LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



iShelfB.913 

— :\ ^ 

UNITED t^TATES OF AMERICA. 



(Vi 



OUTLINES 



OF THE 



WORLD'S HISTORY, 

WITH SPECIAL RELATION TO THE 

HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION AND THE PROGRESS 
OF MANKIND. 



PART I. -ANCIENT. 




l^hj 



For use in the Higher Classes in Public Schools, and in High Schools . 
Academies, Seminaries, etc. 

/ 

By WILLIAM SWINTON, 

Author of Condensed History of the United States, Cam])aigns of the Army of the 
Potomac, Word- Analysis, Word- Book, etc. 



NEW YORK AND CHICAGO: 
IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR, AND COMPANY. 



THE LIBRARY 
or CONGjlESS 

WASHINGTON 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, 

BY IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR, & CO., 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Coivrieht, 1881, by Ivzson, Blakernan^ Taylor &= Co. 



PREFACE 



In preparing the following Outlines of the World's His- 
tory the author has assumed that the proper aim of such 
historical study as can be pursued in high schools and 
academies should be to give the learner a general view of 
human progress, — '■ to furnish, for example, brief but explicit 
answers to such questions as these : 

1. What were the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Hebrews, 
Latins, Spaniards, English, etc. ? What did each of these 
nations contribute to the common stock of civilization ? 

2. In ^\i2X forms did the mind of the race express itself: 
in religion, war, law-making, political organization, litera- 
ture, art ? 

3. What was the actual life of the people themselves, — '■ 
their condition as regards political freedom, education, 
physical well-being, food, dress, trade, society, etc. ? What 
were their ways of thinking, and how did these show them- 
selves in the manners, customs, and social usages of the 
time ? 

4. What have been the great steps in human progress^ — ^ 
the discoveries, social and political changes, advances in 
thought and skill, that have carried forward civilization 
and the " betterment of man's estate " (Bacon) ; and what 



^ 



IV PREFACE. 



is the series of events that has brought the world up to its 
present standard of enlightenment and knowledge ? 

These are questions that we have learned to ask only in 
comparatively recent times. The asking of them and the 
answering of them have given us history in its modern 
sense ; that is to say, history as a showing forth of the life of 
nations, in place of history as the mere biography of kings, 
or the record of battles and sieges, of dynasties and courts. 

The theory of this book may be stated in a single sen- 
tence : it is, to bring to the treatment of history for elemen- 
tary instruction the same method that has proved fruitful 
and interesting in the larger classic works. Such treat- 
ment is in marked contrast with that of the compendiums 
in ordinary use, which consist mainly of catalogues of facts 
and of chronologic data. The author believes, however, 
that the judgment of progressive teachers will fully coincide 
with his own in this: that far more valuable and more 
lasting results can be secured by giving scholars a vivid 
general view of the institutions and civilization of the 
greater nations than by cramming the memory with ever 
so imposing an array of isolated facts and dates. 

This book has grown out of a great deal of experiment- 
ing with classes, — testing of 7iuhat pupils can take in and 
assimilate, of what becomes fruitful in their minds, and of 
what, on the other hand, is retained with difficulty or for- 
gotten with ease. Care has been taken to cast the para- 
graphs into such a form that the subject-matter of each 
may be easily grasped by the pupil and the same readily 
elicited by means of the marginal notes, — a device which 
seems to be better suited to a work of this grade than 
mere literal questions would be. 



PREFACE. 



In addition to these features there are two salient points 
to which notice is called: i. This manual is made from 
modern material, and presents the fruit of those researches 
that have so essentially modified and so greatly enlarged 
our views both of antiquity and of more recent times. 2. 
It is written in the spirit of the modern method, — that 
method which deals with the broad, vital facts, rather than 
with the pedantries of history. 

As, by the courses of study in our public schools, general 
history is not taken up until after several years' work on 
the history of our own country, it would have been quite 
superfluous to insert here an imperfect compendium of 
what has already been gone over in detail ; hence in this 
book the history of the United States is treated only in so 
far as it touches that of other nations. 

The author is deeply impressed with the conviction that 
history, studied in the right manner, is of fundamental im- 
portance in the growth of the mental and moral nature. 
And he believes that such study is of especial moment in 
our own country, as a preparation for citizenship in a free, 
self-governing nation : for how can we appreciate what we 
enjoy, unless we know how it came to be? In the sincere 
hope that this survey of the providential ordainment of 
human affairs may prove helpful, both to intellectual growth 
and the formation of character, it is commended to the 
judgment of the teaching profession. 

It is needless in a manual of this kind to acknowledge indebted- 
ness to those storehouses from which every compiler must draw ; 
and it may be added that in various passages of mere narrative a 
textual use has been made of authorities too well known to need 
the encumbering of a school-book by soecific mention of each. 



CONTENTS. 



»— _ 

PAGE. 

PREFACE „ iii 

SECTION I. 

THE ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

Chapter 

I. Geographical Sketch 8 

II. Egypt 12 

1. Historical Outline 12 

2. Egyptian Civilization ...... 20 

III. The Assyrians and Babylonians .... 27 

1. Introduction ........ 27 

2. Early Babylonian, or Chaldasan, Kingdom . . 29 

3. Assyria 32 

4. Later Babylonian Kingdom 35 

IV. The Hebrews 38 

V. The Phoenicians 43 

VI. The Hindoos 50 

VII. The Persian Empire 55 

1. Historical Outline 55 

2. Persian Civilization 60 

VIII. Commerce of the Ancients 64 



SECTION II. 

history of GREECE. 

I. General Sketch 73; 



CONTENTS. vii 



II. History of the First Period : From the Dorian 
Migration to the beginning of the Persian Wars, 

1100-500 B.C 81 

1. Beginnings of Greek History . . . . 81 

2. Growth of Sparta and Athens 85 

III. History of the Second Period : From the beginning 

of the Persian War to the Victory of Philip of 

Macedon at Chseronea, B. C. 500-338 ... 91 

1. The Persian Invasions 91 

2. The Age of Pericles 98 

3. The Peloponnesian War . . . . . 100 

4. Period of Spartan and Theban Supremacy . . loi 

IV. History of the Third Period : From the Victory of 

Philip to the Absorption of Greece by the Romans . 103 

1. Supremacy of Macedon. — Philip .... 103 

2. Career of Alexander the Great . . . . 104 

3. Alexander's Successors 108 

4. Later History of Macedon and Greece . . . 109 

V. Grecian Civilization 114 

1. Political Ideas . . , . . - . 114 

2. Religion . . 114 

3. Grecian Festivals 117 

4. Greek Literature and Philosophy . . . -119 

5. Grecian Art 125 

6. Greek Life, Manners, etc 128 



SECTION III. 

HISTORY OF ROME. 

I. Geography and Races .130 

II. Primeval Rome. — Period of the Kings . . 133 

III. The Roman Republic 136 

1. Epoch of the Struggle for Existence . . , 136 

Great Names of Early Rome . . . .137 

2. Epoch of the Roman Conquest of Italj ^ . 143 



Vill CONTENTS. 



3. Epoch of Foreign Conquest 147 

4. Epoch of Civil Strife 159 

IV. Rome as an Empire 182 

1. Age of Augustus 182 

2. Political History 191 

3. Spread of Christianity 194 

4. Roman Life, Manners, Customs, etc. . . . 201 

5. Last Days of Rome 207 



MAPS 



Pagb 

Ancient Oriental Monarchies. {Double page) ... 8 

Historic Era at the Beginning of Records . . . 11 

Egypt at the Time of Persian Conquest .... 13 

Dominion of Solomon 39 

Phcenicia and her Colonies 44 

Persian Empire. {Double page.) 54 

Routes of Ancient Commerce 65 

Greece and her Colonies. {Double page.) .... 72 

Greece before Dorian Migration 77 

Greek Races after Dorian Migration . . . . 83 

Persian Invasions of Greece 92 

Vicinity of Marathon and Athens 93 

THERMOPYLyE 96 

Races of Ancient Italy 131 

Latium, or Primeval Rome 133 

The Punic Wars 148 

Mithridatic Wars 161 

Campaigns of Cesar 167 

Roman Empire. {Double page.) 182 

Plan of Ancient Rome. 186 



OUTLINES OF HISTORY. 



INTRODUCTION. 

1. History may be defined, in a general way, as the rec- 
ord of the Ufe of mankind. In a more special History de- 
view, it is the narrative of the rise and progress ^^^'^' 

of those famous peoples whose doings constitute the history 
of civilizaiiofi. 

2. In this its proper and highest sense history presup- 
poses the races advanced beyond the natural its relation to 
or primitive state, and gathered in political "^^lons. 
communities, or natiofis ; and it confines itself to those 
nations whose achievements have influenced the general 
current of the world's affairs, and made the condition of 
the world what we now see it. 

3. Respecting mankind outside cf nations, there is much 
interesting and valuable knowledge, supplied Aids to 

by various sciences. Among these are, — history. 

Ethnol'ogy, or the science of the several races, or types 
of mankind. 

ARCHiEOL'oGY, or the science of the ancient works of 
man. 

Philol'ogy, or the science of language. 

By the aid of these sciences much is now known regard- 
ing humanity in its lower stages of progress. In our own 
times a vast amount of inquiry has been made into the con- 
dition of the primeval races ; interesting studies have been 
made also on the customs, manners, arts, languages, and 
religions of savage tribes. 



OUTLINES OF GENERAL LIJSTORY. 



4. These researches belong to Anthropol'ogy, which 
Difference be- deals with man in natural history, rather than 
po^iogy^and'^°" ^^ HiSTORY proper, which deals with nations, 
History. that is to Say, with man in civilization. 

5. Viewing history as confined to the series of leading 
The real his- civilizcd nations, we observe that it has to do 
toric race. ^y^^h but onc grand division of the human fam- 
ily, namely, with the Caucasian, or white race. To this 
division belonged the people of all the elder nations, — 
the Egyptians, Assyr'ians and Babylo'nians, the Hebrews 
and the Phceni'cians, the Hin'doos, the Persians, the Greeks, 
and the Romans. Of course, the modern European na- 
tions, as also the states founded by European colonists, all 
belong to this ethnological division. Thus we see that his- 
tory proper concerns itself with but one highly developed 
type of mankind ; for though the great bulk of the popu- 
lation of the globe has, during the whole recorded period, 
belonged, and does still belong, to other types of mankind, 
yet the Caucasians form the only truly historical race. 
Hence we may say that civilization is the product of the 
brain of this race. 

Of the peoples outside of the Caucasian race that have made some 
figure in civiKzation, the Chinese, Mexicans, and Peruvians stand alone. 
But though those races rose considerably above the savage state, their 
civilization was stationary, and they had no marked influence on the 
general current of the world's progress. 

6. Modern scholars divide this historical stock — the 
Its three di- Caucasian race — into three main branches : 
visions. J -pj^g A'ryan, or Indo-European branch; 
II. The Semit'ic branch j III. The Hamit'ic branch. This 
classification is a linguistic one, — that is to say, it is a 
division based on the nature of the languages spoken by 
the three families of nations, — but at the same time it 
represents three distinct civilizations. 



INTROD UCTION. 



7. The Aryan branch is that division to which we our- 
selves belong: : it includes nearly all the pres- 

. . r -r- .Li /-I 1 The Aryans. 

ent and past nations of Europe, — the Greeks, 
Latins, Germans or Teu'tons, Celts, and Slavo'nians, — to- 
gether with two ancient Asiatic peoples, namely, the Hin- 
doos and the Persians. 

8. The evidence of language shows that the Celtic, Ger- 
man, Slavonian, Greek, and Latin tongues all Their unity, 
bear a remarkable family likeness, and that ^"'^ proved, 
they share this likeness with the Sanscrit, which was the 
ancient language of India, and with the Zend, the ancient 
language of Persia. It is quite certain that the forefathers 
of the Persians and of the Hindoos and the forefathers of 
all the European nations were once one people, and lived 
together somewhere in Western Asia. This was at a time 
long before the beginning of recorded history (for we know 
nothing of the Greeks, Latins, Germans, Celts, etc., as such, 
until we find them in Europe) ; but still it is proved by the 
evidence of language that their original home and native 
seat was Asia. 

g. The Semitic branch includes the ancient inhabitants 
of Syria, Arabia, and the Tigris and Euphrates . 
countries. The leading historical representa- 
tives of the Semitic branch are the Hebrews, Phoenicians, 
Assyrians, and Arabs. 

10. The Hamitic branch has but one prominent repre- 
sentative, — the Egyptians. It is probable, j^^^j^.^gg 
however, that the ancient Chaldae'ans also be- 
longed to this race. 

11. The history of the civilized world is the history of 
the Aryan, Semitic, and Hamitic races. It is comparison of 
of interest to know that the race to which we *^^ '"^^^^" 
belong, the Aryan, has always played the leading part in 
the great drama of the world's progress. The Hamitic 
nations; the Egyptians and Chaldaeans, though they devel- 



OUTLINES OF GENERAL HISTORY. 



oped a peculiar type of civilization, yet grew up and re- 
mained in a great degree apart from the rest of the world, 
having no considerable influence on the main current of 
history. As to the Semites, there is one respect in which 
they have the greatest place in the story of mankind, 
namely, in religious development; for the three religions 
that have taught men that there is but one God — namely, 
the Jewish, the Christian, and the Mahom'etan — have all 
come from among them. But, aside from this, the Semites 
do not make nearly so important or so conspicuous a figure 
in history as do the Aryans, or Indo-Europeans. They 
have never been greatly progressive. They have generally 
shown a conservative disposition that has, in the main, 
kept them fixed to their native seat, in the small tract of 
country between the Tigris, the Mediterranean, and the 
Red Sea. Thus they have not, like the Aryans, been the 
planters of new nations ; and they have never attained a 
high intellectual development, or that progress in political 
freedom, in science, art, and literature, which is the glory 
of the Aryan nations. 

12. If we trace back the present civilization of the ad- 
The Aryans in vanced nations of the world, — our own civil- 
history, ization, and that of England, Germany, France, 
Italy, etc., — we shall find that much of it is connected by 
direct and unbroken line with the Roman. The Romans, 
in turn, were heirs of the Greeks. Now, all this is Aryan ; 
and when we go back to the primitive age of the undivided 
Aryans in Asia, we see that this race must even then have 
been placed far above the condition of mere savages, and 
that they had made good beginnings in government, and 
social life, and religion, and the simple mechanical arts. 
Thus we are fully authorized to say that the Aryans are 
peculiarly the race of progress ; and a very large part of 
the history of the world must be taken up with an account 
of the contributions which the Aryan nations have made to 
the common stock of civilization. 



INTRODUCTION. 



13. In these Outlines of the world's history we shall 

take up: Divisions of 

I. The groups of ancient Oriental nations, t^isbook. 
including, i. The Egyptians; 2. The Assyro-Babylonians ; 
3. The Hebrews; 4. The Phoenicians; 5. The Hindoos; 6. 
The Persians. 

II. The history of Greece. 

III. The history of the Roman Dominion. 

IV. The history of the Middle Ages. 

V. The history of the modern European states and na- 
tions. 

14. The entire historical period, commencing with the 
early Empires of the East, and coming down chronologic 
to our own times, is usually divided into dis- P^nods. 
tinct portions, sometimes two and sometimes three ; that 
is to say, some historians make a double division, into 
Ancient history and Modern history ; and others a triple 
division, into Ancient, Mediceval, and Modern history. In 
either case Ancient history ends with the breaking up of 
the Dominion of Rome, in the fifth century a. d. (fall of 
the Western Roman Empire, 476 a. d.). Then, if we make 
the double division, Modern history will begin with the 
downfall of Rome; but if the triple division, the interval 
from the fifth to the fifteenth century will be regarded as 
a period by itself, called Medieval history, or the history 
of the Middle Ages ; while Modern history, according to 
this method, will be confined to the centuries between the 
fifteenth and the present time. 

15. Such divisions of the historic period into portions 
are merely arbitrary, seeing that history forms Nature of the 
in reality an unbroken whole. We shall adopt divisions, 
the triple division for practical convenience, though per- 
haps the double division is the more philosophical ; for 
while we think of the ages as forming a continuous stream, 
the Roman Dominion may still be regarded as a reservoir 



6 OUTLINES OF GENERAL HISTORY. 

into which all the currents of history from the anterior ages 
were gathered, and from which, in turn, the ampler currents 
of Modern history have flowed. It was out of the breaking 
up of the great Dominion of Rome in the fifth century a. d. 
(when the Western Roman Empire fell, under the attacks 
of the Gothic invaders, and of other new races loosely called 
"Northern barbarians") that the modern states of Europe 
— that is, Italy, Spain, France, England, Germany, etc. — 
gradually took their rise. 

l6. In the largest sense, however, history is a unit: its 
. epochs form but acts in one grand Provi- 

History a unit. , . , , , i r , • i 

dential drama; one thread of progress bmds 
nation to nation ; and, looking at humanity as a whole, we 
see that 

Through the ages- one increasing purpose runs, 
' And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of 
the suns. 

Tennyson. 

ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. 
I. Definition of History. (^ i.) 

I how distinguished. (IT 4.) 



Anthropology, 
History proper, 



II, Aids to History. 

Ethnology, \ 

Archeology, S how defined. (IT 3.) 

Philology, ) 

III. Divisions of the Caucasian Race. 

" Hindoos, 



Aryan (Indo-European) 
Branch. (IT 7.) 



Persians, 
Greeks, 
Latins, 
Germans, 
Celts, 
L Slavonians. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IV. 



V= 



Semitic Branch. (IT 9.) 



Hamitic Branch. (IT 10.) 



Hebrews, 
Phcenicians, 
Assyrians, 
Arabs. 

Egyptians, 

CHALDiEANS. 



Divisions of History, (f 13.) 

1. Oriental Nations. 

2. Greeck 

3. Rome. 

4. The Middle Ages. 

5. Modern History. 

Chronologic Periods. (T[ 14.) 

Ancient History, from the earliest period to the fall of the 

Western Roman Empire, 476 A. D. 
Medieval History, from the fall of the Western Roman 

Empire to the close of the 15 th century. 
Modern History, from the close of the 15th century to the 

present time. 




8 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

SECTION I. 

THE ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

CHAPTER I. 
GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

1. The ancient Oriental civilizations to be treated of in 
Oriental na- this section Comprise the monarchies of Egypt, 
tions. Assyr'ia and Babylo'nia, Judae'a, Phceni'cia, 
India, and Persia. 

2. With the single exception of Egypt, the seat of all the 

ancient Oriental nations was in Asia. And of 

this grand division of the globe it is to be 

observed that only a small part has any connection with 

history proper. Historical Asia is in reality Southwestern 

Asia. 

3. All that part of Asia north of the Altai range is a com- 

paratively barren waste. It was almost wholly 

Northern Asia. ^ . -^ . . . -^ 

unknown m antiquity. 

4. Central Asia, extending between the 50th and the 40th 
, ^ . parallels of north latitude, — known to ancient 

Central Asia. ^ . 07,. . 

writers as Scyth'ta, — is a region of vast pla- 
teaus. Being destitute of arable land, it is a mere country 
of pasture. It has always supported a great population, 
but a population of nomads without fixed habitations or 
cities, and with no other form of political association than 
patriarchal government. Accordingly, the races of this re- 
gion have played no part in history, except that the Mongo- 
lian or Tartar races, inhabiting the great steppes, have at 
times poured down upon and conquered the civilized coun- 
tries. 




127 from TJlz-sTiint^j 



:HiS(ru(W.i^.y 



GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



5. The real theater of Asiatic history, namely, South- 
western Asia, may be subdivided into three Division of 
regions: T. that west of the Euphra'tes; 2. the Western Asia, 
valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris; 3. the region be- 
tween the Zagros Mountains and the In'dus basin inclusive. 

6. West of the Euphrates we have : i. The peninsula of 
Asia Minor, the seat of several nationalities (of _. 

, . , , r -r !,• 1 • \ First region. 

which that of Lyd'ia was the most important) 
and of various Grecian colonies ; their history is, however, 
connected as much with Europe as with Asia. 2. Syr'ia, 
bordering on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, 
and comprising three distinct parts : (i) Syria proper ; (2) 
Phoenicia, including the narrow strip of coast between 
Leb'anon and the sea ; (3) Palestine, south of Phoenicia. 
3. The peninsula of Arabia, stretching southeastward. This 
last is of comparatively little importance in ancient history. 

7. In the basins of the Tigris and the Euphrates were 
several distinct territorial divisions : i. Arme'- 

nia, or the highland region between Asia Minor 
and the Caspian Sea. 2. Assyria proper, which lay east 
of the Tigris River and west of the Zagros Mountains. 
3. Babylonia, comprising the great alluvial plain between 
the lower course of the Tigris and of the Euphrates, and 
stretching westward to the Syrian Desert. 4. Chaldae'a, the 
country at the head of the Persian Gulf, stretching west- 
ward from the lower waters of the Euphrates to the Syrian 
Desert. 5. Mesopota'mia, or the district between the 
two great rivers. 6. Susia'na, including the country lying 
along the Tigris east of Babylonia. 

8. It must not be supposed that these territories were 
severally the seat of distinct nations. We may Nations in 
say that three great monarchies ruled in the "^°"^ "^s^""* 
valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, down to the time when 
these territories were absorbed in Persia (6th century b. c). 
These were tlie Chaldaean, Babylonian, and Assyrian king- 



lO ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

doms, and of these the last, at the height of its power, 
held sway over nearly the entire region between the Zagros 
Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. 

9. The table-land of ancient Iran (Persia) lay to the east 
Eastern di- of the Zagros chain of mountains, which sep- 
vision. arated it from the Tigris and Euphrates ba- 
sins. In the north, toward the Caspian Sea, was Media; 
to the south, and reaching to the Persian Gulf, was ancient 
Persia proper. Farther eastward, and stretching to the 
south, was the peninsula of India, forming the eastern limit 
of ancient Asiatic civilization. 

10. The earliest nations recorded in history arose in the 
Civilization three alluvial plains of the Nile, of the Tigris 
and geography. ^^^ Euphrates, and of the Indus. This fact 
was wholly due to physical causes. In a primitive state of 
society, population can gather into nations only in regions 
where a fertile soil produces abundant food. Now the three 
alluvial basins just named are distinguished for their ex- 
traordinary fertility. Here nature spontaneously produces 
certain important articles of food, such as dates, rice, etc., 
which, being easily cultivated and yielding immense re- 
turns, made a large population possible. Accordingly, we 
find that in these countries men had adopted fixed habita- 
tions (a great advance on the pastoral or nomad state) and 
formed themselves into political associations at a time long 
antedating recorded history. 

11. As the physical conditions that favor the formation 
of human society are, so far as the Old World goes, found 
only in the alluvial plains of Southwest Asia (taking in 
Cradle of na- Egypt), as the earliest nations appear in these 
tions. regions, and as philology proves that all the 
European races came from Western Asia, — we may safely 
consider that here was, if not the cradle of the human race, 
at least the cradle of civilization. 

12. We shall begin with these earliest nations of civilized 



GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



II 



man. With the oripfin of the human race, its ^ . . 

1 ,,,,..,,. 1 . , Origin of man. 

first seats and earnest distribution, history- 
proper does not undertake to deal. History commences 
when historical records commence. Hence we must leave 
to revelation and to science the consideration of primitive 
humanity, and take up our studies with those ancient Ori- 
ental nations that appear on the stage of human affairs when 
historic records begin. 

13. When the curtain goes up on antiquity, — say in the 
23d century b. c, — we have disclosed to view Earliest his- 
the venerable figures of t^vo civilizations : that *°"'^ theater, 
in the Nile Valley and that in Chaldaea. And beyond this 
narrow region the fore-world is to us shrouded in impene- 
trable darkness. 




12 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



CHAPTER II. 

EGYPT 

I. HISTORICAL OUTLINE. 




The Great Pyramids. 



14. Egypt is the country in which we first find a gov- 
Antiquity of cmment and poUtical institutions estabUshed. 
Egypt. Egypt itself may not have been the oldest 
naiion, but Egyptian history is certainly the oldest history. 
Its monuments, records, and literature surpass in antiquity 
those of Chaldcea and India, the two next oldest nations. 

15. It is natural to suppose that the banks of the Nile 
must have been one of the primitive seats of human soci- 
ety, for the condition already mentioned as favoring the 
-„^ ,^ first formation of nations — namely, cheap 

Why old. 1,1 c ^ 1 . 

and abundant food — was here present m a 
remarkable degree. 



EGYPT. 



13 



16. Egypt itself has been called 




from the earliest antiq- 
uity "the Physical ge- 
Giftofthe og'-aphy. 
Nile." This mighty 
river, flowing from the 
highlands of Abyssinia 
and the great lakes 
of equatorial Africa, 
forms in Egypt a strip 
of fertility in the midst 
of the desert waste. 
In its annual overflow 
(due to the immense 
rainfalls in the Abys- 
sinian mountains), the 
Nile, by its mud de- 
posits, renews every 
year the soil of this 
strip, so that all the 
people had to do was 
to plant, and nature 
produced. 

17. In Egypt the 
date-palm ^ ^ , 

^ Food-plants. 

grew spon- 
taneously, and fur- 
nished the people with 
a cheap and abun- 



MAP STUDY. 

Ancient Egypt comprised three divisions, — Lower Egypt, or the Delta; Midd'.e 

Egypt, or the Heptanomis ; Upper Egypt, or the Thebais. 

I. In which division was Memphis ? 2. On which bank of the Nile 
was Memphis ? 3. In which division was Thebes ? 4. Near which city 
are the Great Pyramids ? 5. What seaport at the mouth of the eastern 
branch of the Nile ? 6. Where was the land of Goshen? 7. What sea 
north of Egypt? 8. What is the general course of the Nile? 9. What 
sea east of Egypt ? 10. What celebrated mountain in this vicinity ? 



14 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

dant article of food. The fertility of the soil also yielded, 
with slight labor, large crops of cereals (especially dhourra, 
a sort of maize), and the " granaries of Egypt " were the 
storehouse whence all the peoples of the Mediterraneaa 
were wont to draw supplies in seasons of scarcity. 

1 8. The cheapness of living in Egypt led to a great mul- 
Effect on the tipHcation of the population. A Greek writer, 
people. Diodo'rus Sic'ulus, who traveled there nineteen 
centuries ago, says that to bring up a child to manhood did 
not cost more than twenty drachmas (less than four dollars 
of our money), — and he notices this fact as a cause of the 
populousness of Egypt. 

19. Information in regard to ancient Egypt was, until the 
Old sources of present century, derived chiefly from the nar- 
information. ratives of the Greek historians, and especially 
from that of Herod'otus,* who traveled in Egypt in the 5 th 
century b. c, and from some fragments of a history WTitten in 
Greek by Man'etho, an Egyptian priest, in the 3d century b. c. 

20. But in modern times our knowledge of the ancient 
The new land has been greatly extended by the discov- 
sources. ^^^ q£ ^^ ^^^ ^f reading the inscriptions which 
the Egyptians of old with great lavishness carved on their 
buildings and monuments, especially their obelisks, painted 
on the frescoed interiors of their tombs, and indeed placed 
on almost every object of use or art. These writings were 
in the character called hieroglypIiHcs^ which is a Greek term 
meaning sacred carvings, or priestly writing. Now, the 
knowledge of the reading of these died out with the decline 
of Egypt, and "hieroglyphics" became a synonym for every- 
thing that is mysterious. 

21. It was an interesting accident that led to the unveil- 
Deciphering of ing of this mystcry. During the expedition of 
t^ e lerog yp - ^^ French to Egypt, under Napoleon, at the 

* Herodotus, called the father of history, was born at Halicarnassus, a 
Greek colony in Caria (Asia Minor), B. c. 484. 



EGYPT. 15 



close of the last century, an engineer in digging the foun- 
dation of a fort near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile found 
a stone tablet about three feet long, on which was an in- 
scription in three different characters. This was the famous 
" Rosetta stone." One of the three texts (the lower one) was 
Greek, and of course was readily translated ; the text at the 
head was in the mystic hieroglyphic character ; the interme- 
diate text was in a character since called detnotic (demos, the 
people), that is, the writing of the common people. This in- 
scription was copied and circulated among scholars, and after 
long and ingenious efforts the alphabet of the hieroglyphics 
was made out ; so that now these carvings are read with ease 
and certainty, and a new flood of light has been thrown on 
the history of ancient Egypt. 

Note on the Rosetta Stone. — The Greek text, when translated, 
showed that the inscription was an ordinance of the priests decreeing cer- 
tain honors to Ptol'emy Epiph'anes on the occasion of his coronation, 
196 B. C, (Ptolemy Epiphanes was one of a line of Greek sovereigns 
who ruled over Egypt from the time of its conquest by Alexander, 4th 
century, to the 1st century B. c.) It contains a command that the de- 
cree shoukl be inscribed in the sacred letters (hieroglyphics), the letters 
of the country (demotic), and Greek letters, — and this for the conven- 
ience of the mixed population of Egypt under its Greek rulers. It was 
natural to conclude that the three texts were the same in substance, and 
accordingly earnest efforts were made to decipher the hieroglyphics by 
aid of the Greek. The first clew was obtained by noticing that certain 
groups of the hieroglyphic characters were inclosed in oval rings, and 
that these groups corresponded in relative position with certain proper 
names, such as Ptolemy, etc., in the Greek text. The following line 
presents a few of the characters with a group in the oval ring. (The 
words and groups of words are read from rii^ht to left.) 



I! 



(Ptolemy eternal beloved of Phtah) of Egypt king of statue raising 



1 6 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

It was by comparison of the group judged on strong grounds to be the 
name Ptolemy, with another group (found on another stone) supposed 
to stand for the name Cleopatra, that the first great advance was made. 
The groups were as follows : — 



(gSH 



(SS^ 



Supposed to be Ptolemy. 



Supposed to be Cleopatra. 



In Greek Ptolemy is Ptolemaios, and Cleopatra is Kleopatm. If now 
the hieroglyphic characters were /c-^/i^r-signs, the characters I, 2, 3, 4, in 
Ptolemaios should correspond respectively with 5, 7, 4, 2, in Kleopatra 
{\ht first letter in Ptolemaios being ihe. fifth in Kleopatra, etc.). In this 
way several letters were discovered ; by means of other groups the whole 
alphabet was made out, and finally it was proved that by this phonetic 
alphabet the characters and groups could be resolved into the Coptic 
language of Egypt, which was already understood by scholars. It should 
not be forgotten that the great work of deciphering was mainly effected 
by the French savant, Champollion. 

22. The Egyptians were not Africans^ as we understand 
that term. They belonged to the Caucasian 

Egyptian race. o^-n ^1 -^i a o 

race. Still, they were neither Aryans nor Sem- 
ites, and hence scholars call them by a special designation, 
namely, Ha7mtes, or Khamites.^ They bore a greater re- 
semblance to the ancient Chaldaeans than to any other 
Asiatic people ; both peoples showed a wonderful building 
instinct, and the Egyptian language seems to be a sort of 
primitive Semitic. Hence some scholars believe that 
the Egyptians were originally immigrants into the Nile 
Valley from the alluvial plain at the head of the Persian 
Gulf ; but if this was the case, the Egyptians must have left 

* Khame {literally the Black Land) was the native name of Egypt. 



EGYPT. \y 



Asia at a period before there was that sharp division of 
Semites and Aryans wliich we find in historical times. 

23. I'he origin of Egyptian civilization is hidden in the 
darkness of antiquity : but by the aid of cer- 

1 r 11-1 Beginning of 

tam ascertamed tacts v/e may establish at Egypt's his- 
least an approximate starting-point. Thus, it *°'^^' 
is known that Abraham visited Egypt in the 20th century 
B. c, and that he then found a flourishing monarchy exist- 
ing. Now at this remote period the Great Pyramids were 
standing, and modern scholars are agreed that these struc- 
tures were reared by kings of the fourth dynasty, — at a 
time not later than the middle of the 25 th century b. c. It 
is evident from the monuments that the civilization of Egypt 
at this early date was in many respects of an advanced 
order, and hence we must seek its origin still farther back. 
But how far back? According to the native historian 
Manetho, twenty-six dynasties of kings ruled the country 
from Me'nes, the first king of the first dynasty, down to the 
conquest of Eg3rpt by the Persians in the 6th century b. c. 
The accession of Menes is placed by some scholars (as 
Bunsen) at 3906 ; others bring it down as late as 2700. 
Later than that date we cannot bring it, and it would doubt- 
less be quite correct to say that Egypt was a civilized coun- 
try three thousand years before the Christian era. 

24. The history of Egypt from the first dynasty (2700 
b. c.) down to the destruction of Egyptian in- The three pe- 
dependence by the Persians (525 b. c.) maybe "°'^^- 
divided into three periods, namely : — 

I. First Period (or period of the old empire), from the 
earliest times (say 2700 b. c.) to 2080. 

II. Second Period (or period of the Hyk'sos rule), from 
2080 to 1527. 

III. Third Period (or period of the new empire), from 
1527 to 525. 

25. The First Period begins with the first dynasty (2700 



1 8 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

B. c), and lasts for 620 years ; but it cannot be said that 
First Period authentic Egyptian history commences until 
characterized, ^j^^ fourth dynasty, about the middle of the 
25th century b. c. And indeed the epoch of the fourth 
dynasty is the most notable during the whole of this First 
Period ; for this was the era of the pyramid-builders. Man- 
etho ascribes the building of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh 
S^gee'zeKl near Mem'phis to Suphis (the Che'ops of Herodo- 
tus) ; and it is an interesting fact that in the interior of this 
structure has been found a hieroglyphic royal name which 
scholars agree in reading Shiifu* The center of the Egyp- 
tian power was then at Memphis, in Lower Egypt, where a 
centralized monarchy ruled the whole country; and it is 
apparent that at this epoch the Egyptians had made very 
considerable progress in the arts of life. Before the close 
of the First Period, however, Egypt was broken up into 
really separate kingdoms, the monarchy which ruled at 
Thebes in Upper Egypt being the most powerful. This 
left the country in so feeble a condition that it was invaded 
by a foreign enemy, namely the Hyksos, or Shepherd 
Kings. And with their conquest of Egypt (2080 b. c.) 
closes the First Period, or Old Empire. 

26. The Second Period is the era covered by the rule of 
the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kin^s, and lasts for 

Second Period. ,^V .-/o \ rr^^ 

about live centuries (2080- 1525 B.C.). The 
Hyksos are believed to have been a nomadic race from 
either Syria or Arabia. Entering Lower Egypt, they de- 
stroyed the native monarchy at Memphis, and afterwards 
conquered the Theban Kingdom of Upper Egypt. The 
complete establishment of their dominion was about 1900 
B. c, and after this follows the darkest period of Egyptian 
history, t 

* For a representation of the signet-ring of Cheops, or Shufu, see pic- 
ture of the Pyramids at the head of the chapter. 

+ It was during the ^:le of one of the dynasties of Shepherd Kings 



EGYPT. 19 

27. The revival of Eg}''ptian independence by the expul- 
sion of the " Shepherds " introduces us to the 

Third Period, or that of the New Empire. 
This continues for about one thousand years (1527-525 
B. c.) ; but it should be divided into two ages, — the grand 
age and the age of decay. 

28. The expulsion of the Hyksos was due to the valor 
of a Theban prince, who headed a great na- 
tional uprising, and who received as his reward ^ ^^^* 
the supreme authority over the whole country, — a right 
which was inherited by his successors. Egypt now became 
one great centralized power, with Thebes for its capital. 
The most splendid period of Egyptian history was from the 
eighteenth to the twentieth dynasties, — about three centuries 
(1525 - 1200 B. c.)."^ Egyptian art attained its highest per- 
fection, and the great temple-palaces of Thebes were built. 
The Egyptians even undertook foreign expeditions : Ethi- 
opia, Arabia, and Syria were invaded ; the Euphrates was 
crossed, and a portion of Mesopotamia was added to the 
Egyptian Empire. The chief of these warlike kings was 
Ram'eses IL, the Sesos'tris of the Greek writers. 

29. From the twentieth dynasty onwards Egypt declined 
for six centuries, till finally it was conquered 

by the Persians under Camby'ses, 525 b. c. 
In 332 Egypt fell under the dominion of Alexander the 
Great, who founded on its shore the new capital and literary 
and commercial center called Alexandria. One of his gen- 
erals, named Ptolemy, received Egypt as his fragment of 

that Abraham visited Egypt, — said to be 1920 B. C, — and they were 
still reigning when Jacob and his sons settled in the country, 1706 K. C. 
* At the head of the eighteenth dynasty is supposed to have been that 
Pharaoh " who knew not Joseph." The exodus of the Israelites from 
Egypt is believed to have taken place 1320 B. c, during the reign of 
Meneptha, the fourth king of the nineteenth dynasty, — the Pharaoh 
whose heart was hardened, and who was drowned in the Red Sea. 



20 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHJES. 

the divided empire of Alexander, 323 b. c. Thenceforward 
for three centuries the Greek dynasty of the Ptolemies ruled 
on the banks of the Nile till Queen Cleopa'tra, the last of 
the line, being overcome by the Romans, died by her own 
hand; and the venerable land became a Roman province 
in B. c. 30. (See under the history of Rome, p. 178.) 

2. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION. 

30. In government, Egypt was a hereditary monarchy, but 

the kingly rule took a peculiar form, owing: to 

Government. , t r , . , , 

the extraordmary power of the priestly class. 
Unlike the sovereigns of the East, an Egyptian Pharaoh 
was far from being the unquestioned master of his own ac- 
tions : his public duties and his daily habits of life were pre- 
scribed by religious rule ; so that the priestly class formed 
the " power behind the throne." In another respect an 
Egyptian king differed from an Eastern despot : his power 
over the lives and property of his subjects was strictly lim- 
ited by law, and nothing left to caprice and passion. The 
right to enact new laws, however, resided with the sovereign. 

31. The station in life of every man was fixed by an in- 

stitution named caste. By the system of caste, 
each individual, instead of being able to make 
his own place and fortune in the world, had his lot marked 
out by his birth : he had to be what his father was. Of 
these castes, or ranks, there were three broad divisions, — 
the priests, the soldiers, and the lower orders. 

32. The priests were the richest, most powerful, and most 

influential order. It must not be supposed, 
however, that the modern word " priest " gives 
the true idea of this caste. Its members were not limited 
to religious offices ; they formed an order co7?iprising 7nany 
occupations and professions. They were distributed all over 
the country, possessing exclusively the means of reading 



EGYPT. 21 



and writing, and the whole stock of medical and scientific 
knowledge. Their ascendency, both direct and indirect, 
over the minds of the people was immense, for they pre- 
scribed that minute religious ritual under which the life of 
every Egyptian, not excepting the king himself, was passed. 

33. Next in importance to the sacerdotal or priestly or- 
der was the military caste, numbering about 

400,000. To each man of this soldier-caste 
was assigned a portion of land (= 6\ acres) free from any 
tax; but he could not engage in any art or trade. The 
lands of the priests and soldiers were regarded as privileged 
property; while the rest of the soil was considered as the 
property of the king, who rented it to cultivators, receiving 
from them one fifth of the produce. 

34. Widely separated from the priests and warriors were 
the various unprivileged castes. These were 

the husbandmen^ the at-tificers^ and the herdsmen^ 
each caste including many different crafts and occupations. 
The lowest caste was that of the herdsmen, and the low- 
est members of this caste were the swineherds, who were 
not permitted to enter the temples. All the castes below 
the priests and soldiers agreed, however, in this, that they 
had no political rights, and could not hold land. 

35. The effect of the caste-system was evil. It was one 
of the main causes of the decline of the nation. 

It discouraged progress and improvement; it ^^^^* °^ '^^s*^- 
crushed out personal ambition ; it produced dull uniformity. 

36. The population of ancient Egypt is known to have 
been at least five millions, and it may have 

been much more. As food was cheap and °^" ^tion. 
abundant, owing to its being easily obtained, the race in- 
creased very rapidly ; hence there was a large part of the 
people whose labor could be used in any way the rulers 
wished. This fact accounts for the ease with which great 
public works — works that, like the pyramids, were useless. 



22 



ANCIEIV7' ORIENTAL MONARCTIIES. 



but yet required the labor of hundreds of thousands of men 
for years — were constructed. 

37. Herodotus relates that Egypt contained 20,000 in- 

habited towns. The two most famous cities 
were Memphis and Thebes. Memphis was 
about twelve miles above the kpex of the Delta. Scarcely 
a vestige of the place now remains ; but its great burial- 
place at Gizeh is still seen. Here are the great Pyramids, 
the colossal Sphinx, and miles on miles of rock-hewn 
tombs. Thebes was the metropolis of Upper Egypt, and 
the most splendid city of the Nile. The traveler who now 
views its ruins at Kar'nak and Lux'or beholds pillared 
temples and statues of a size so colossal as to seem like 
the work of giant hands. 

38. In some branches of art, especially in architecture, 
. ,., , the Egyptians made srreat advances. The race 

Architecture. *V , . , , , , r , , ., , 

seems mdeed to have had a wonderful build- 
ing instinct. The dis- 



tinguishing feature of 
Egyptian architecture is 
its vastness and sub- 
limity. Avenues of 
colossal sphinxes and 
lines of obelisks led 
to stupendous palaces 
and temples, elaborate- 
ly sculptured, and con- 
taining halls of solemn 
and gloomy grandeur, 
in which our largest 
cathedrals might stand. 
39. The pyramids 
were de- 

Pyramids. . , 

Signed as 
the sepulchers of kings. 




Rums OF Karnak. 



EGYPT. 23 



The three great pyramids of Gizeh are the most celebrated ; 
but as many as seventy stand on the left bank of the Nile, 
just beyond the cultivated ground, in the vicinity of Mem- 
phis. The largest of the three great pyramids is 450 feet 
high; it has a square base of 764 feet, and it covers an 
area of more than 13 acres, — twice the extent of any other 
building in the world. The second pyramid is but little 
less j the third about half the size. In the construction of 
these works no degree of labor for any length of time seems 
to have intimidated the Egyptians. The huge blocks of 
stone, sometimes weighing 1600 tons each, were dragged 
for hundreds of miles on sledges ; in one case which is 
known, 2000 men were employed three years in bringing 
a single stone from the quarry to the structure in which it 
was to be placed. 

40. In sculpture the Egyptian artists aimed at the colos- 
sal, and never attained the beautiful. A re- 

111 1- • r X-. • 1 • Sculpture. 

markable peculiarity of Egyptian sculpture is, 
that, though the earliest monuments reveal a considerable 
degree of artistic skill, this skill never advanced. The ex- 
planation of this is found in the connection of Egyptian art 
with Egyptian religion. The artists were fettered by strict 
rules, and were forbidden to indulge their inventive genius. 

41. Egyptian painting did not reach true excellence. The 
best specimens, as seen in the frescos in the 

. /• 1 ' 1- 1 1 -IT Painting. 

interiors of the sepulchers, display brilliancy 
of coloring, and frequently great spirit and vivacity; but 
the drawing is very inaccurate, displaying no observance of 
perspective or even the simplest laws of vision. It should 
be stated that in this branch of art, too, religion interfered to 
limit the taste and fancy of the painter, certain colors being 
positively prescribed in representing the bodies and draper- 
ies of the gods. 

42. The art of writing was practiced more extensively by 
the Egyptians than by any contemporary nation. The 



24 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

pyramids and monuments of even the earliest period bear 
inscriptions ; and it was the custom to mark 

Art of Writing. i • / j ^- i r 

every object and article of use or ornament. 
.For manuscripts an excellent writing material was made 
from the leaves of the pa-py'rus plant, — whence our word 
"paper." Fragments of manuscripts on papyrus exist of 
the earliest Theban dynasties, — 2000 b. c. 

43. The translation of the sacred books of the Egyptians 

shows that their religion embodied some grand 
e igion. conceptions, — among others that of the immor- 

tality of the soul, and that of the existence of an invisible 
God, The several attributes and manifestations of the 
Deity were, however, represented in various forms, and, 
though by the priests and other learned men these were 
regarded as mere symbols, they became to the ignorant 
separate divinities and objects of worship. In this way 
the religious system of the Egyptians was very complicated, 
the number of gods being so great that every day of the 
year was consecrated to one. The v/orship of Osi'ris and 
I'sis was that most generally diffused. 

44. One of the most striking peculiarities of the Egyp- 
Worship of tian religion was the honor paid to brutes. 

animals. ^j^^ ^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ -^j^^ ^^^ ^^ \i2.^\i Were 

held in reverence throughout the whole land, — other ani- 
mals were worshiped only in special nomes, or districts. 
The highest honors were paid to the bull Apis at Mem- 
phis, and to the calf MneVis at Heliop'olis. The sacred 
animals were kept in the temples, ministered to with the 
greatest care, and when they died they were embalmed. 
If a person killed an ibis or a hawk, whether intention- 
ally or unintentionally, he was immediately put to death. 
Animal worship received its extraordinary extension in 
Egypt owing to the overwhelming influence of the priestly 
caste. Ultimately it was a main cause of the mental de- 
basement of the people. 



EGYPT. 



25 



Embalming. 



45. The practice of embalming dead bodies was con- 
nected with the peculiar religious ideas of the 
Egyptians. The original reason of embalming 

was the belief that at the day of 
judgment the soul would reunite 
with the body: hence the care 
taken to preserve the corpse from 
corruption, and hence also the 
great pains taken to ornament 
the interiors of their stone-hewn 
sepulchers, since, even while lying 
in the tomb, the body was be- 
lieved to be not wholly uncon- 
scious. 

46. The Egyptians were adepts 
in the finer kinds of Arts and man- 
mechanical art In "f^^^tures. 
the polishing and engraving of 
precious stones, in glass manu- 
facture, porcelain-making, and in 
embalming and dyeing, they had attained great skill. They 
raised flax, out of which they made fine linen (linen being 
their usual article of dress) ; they worked in metals from 
the earliest recorded period ; their walls and ceilings they 
painted in beautiful patterns, which we still imitate ; and in 
the production of articles of use and ornament they had 
reached a perfection that modern art has not been able 
to surpass. 

47. It is known that the Egyptians had some acquaint- 
ance with certain sciences, especially s^eome- „ . 

, , . ' ,^ .. r ^ ^ Science. 

try, arithmetic, asti-onomy, and medicine. But 
their knowledge can hardly be called science, in the modern 
sense : they knew truths more as matters of fact and obser- 
vation than as determined by law. For example, the Greek 
philosopher Pythag'oras learned from the Eg)rptian priests 




Egyptian Mummy. 



26 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



the fact that " the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the 
sum of the squares of the two other sides " ; but it was the 
Greek mathematician himself who discovered the de?7ionstra- 
tion of this principle. In accuracy of astronomical obser- 
vations the Egyptians were surpassed by the Chaldseans. 
Their geometiy was little more than land-surveying. 

48. The great characteristic of Egyptian institutions was 
their imchangeabkness. This stationary char- 

Summing up. ' . . _, . •' , 

acter is seen m Egyptian government, society, 
religion, art, and learning. Egypt herself was a mummy. 



CH 



First Period, 

or 
Old Empire. 



Second Periodj 

or 
Middle Empire. 



Third Period, 

or 
New Empire. 



Later events. - 



RONOLOGIC SUMMARY. 

B. C. 

Beginning ©f Egyptian history with first dynasty 

of Manetho '. . . o . . . 2700 

Fourth dynasty, or period of tlie Pyramid-rbuild- 

ers 2450 

Close of the Old Empire by the Hyksos inva- 
. sion 2080 

Hyksos conquest of Lower Eg^'pt . . . 2080 

Complete subjugation of the whole -country o 1900 

Abraham's visit to Egypt .... 1920 

Settlement in Egypt of Jacob and his sons . 1706 

Expulsion of the Hyksos .... 15^5 

Revival of Egyptian independence under a The- 

ban dynasty 1525 

Three most brilUant centuries of Egyptian his- 
tory 1500- 1200 

Exodus of the Israelites .... I491 

Egypt conquered by the Persians under Cam- 
byses 5^5 

Egypt conquered by the Greeks imder Alex- 
ander 332 

Beginning of the rule of the Ptolemies (or Greek 
kings of Egypt) after the partition of Alex- 
ander's Empire 323 

Egypt becomes a Roman province after the 

death of Cleopatra 30 



ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIAN 



27 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 

I. INTRODUCTION. 

49. To Egypt has been accorded the precedence of 
possessing- the earliest secular historic records. Antiquity of 

f , . . T n 1 1 1 Chaldsean civ- 

Dut an actual antiquity hardly later than that iiization. 

^-^=^ .^--^^^ =^ of Egypt may 

be claimed for 
the civilization 
which arose in 
the Tigro - Eu- 
phrates basin. 
There is a posi- 
tive date in 
Chaldsean his- 
tory going back 
to the 23d cen- 
tury B. c. (2234 
B. c. See "IT 57, 
p. 30), while 
authentic Egyp- 
tian history an- 
tedates this by 

only two centuries (epoch of the Pyramid-builders, fourth 

dynasty, B. c. 2450). 

MAP STUDY. 

See map of Ancient Oriental Monarchies, opposite p. 8. 

I . In what country do the Tigris and the Euphrates rise ? 2. "Where 
is Mount Ararat? 3. What mountain chain between the Tigro-Euphrates 
basin and the plateau of Media and Persia ? 4. Describe the course of 
the Tigris. 5. Of the Euphrates. 6. Where do they unite? 7. Into 
what gulf do they empty ? 8. Locate Nineveh ; Babylon ; Ur. 




Source of the Tigris. 



28 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

50. If, however, leaving profane records we take the guid- 
The Scripture ance of the Hebrew Scriptures, this region will 
record. claim an even greater antiquity. The Bible 
places the commencement of the history of mankind in the 
Tigro-Euphrates basin. "And it came to pass," says the 
Book of Genesis, " as they journeyed from the east, that they 
found a plain in the land of Shi'nar ; * and they dwelt there." 
There the Scriptures place the building of Babel, the first 
great city founded after the Deluge, and there occurred the 
confusion of tongues and the dispersion of races. It is an 
interesting fact that the record of this event is preserved in 
the Babylonian tradition, as well as in the Mosaic narra- 
tive. 

51. Two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, take 
Sketch of geog- their rise in the highlands of Armenia, and 
raphy. unite near the head of the Persian Gulf, which 
receives their waters after the Euphrates has flowed about 
1780 miles and the Tigris about 1150. The valleys of 
these streams interpose as a belt of fertility in the midst of 
the great desert zone that extends from the western coast 
of Africa almost to the northeastern shores of Asia. 

52. The Tigro-Euphrates basin comprises a number of 
Geographical territorial and political divisions which it is 
divisions. ^^^ always easy to mark by definite lines. The 
region between the two great rivers was called by the Greeks 
Mesopotamia, and by the Hebrews Shinar. Chaldaea was 
the name applied to the region south of the lower course of 
the Euphrates, and to the head of the Persian Gulf. These 
we may call territorial divisions ; but Babylonia, on the other 
hand, was a political division which took in the alluvial 
plain between the lower waters of the Tigris and Euphra- 
tes (Southern Mesopotamia or Shinar), and also Chaldasa 
southward to the Arabian desert. Again, the territorial di- 

* Shinar, that is, Mesopotamia. See Map of Ancient Oriental Mon- 
archies, opposite p. 8. 



ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 29 

vision of Assyria Proper lay east of the Tigris and west of 
the Zagros Mountains, and must not be confounded with 
Assyria as a poUtical power, that is, the Assyrian Empire, 
which varied in extent, and the name of which was often 
apphed to the whole territory between the Mediterranean 
Sea and the table-land of Media and Persia. Susiana lay 
along the Tigris, southeast of Assyria, and was a territorial, 
not a national, designation. 

53. The Tigro-Euphrates basin was the seat of three 
successive kingdoms: — i. The early Babylo- The three na- 
nian, or Chaldsean, Kingdom ; 2. The Assyrian *'°"^* 
Empire; 3. The later Babylonian Kingdom. 

54. As in the case of Egypt, our knowledge of the an- 
cient history of these countries Jias been very Modem re*- 
greatly enlarged through modern research. ^^^'^*=^- 

By the industry of explorers, beginning with Layard thirty 
years ago, Nineveh and Babylon and the buried cities of 
the plain have been unearthed ; their palaces and temples 
have been exposed to view; the mysterious inscriptions 
in the wedge-shaped or cu-ne'i-form character, which were 
found covering the slabs that lined the interiors of the 
palaces and temples, have, by a triumph of modern schol- 
arship, been translated ; and thus a flood of light has been 
cast on the darkness of the primeval world. 

2. EARLY BABYLONIAN, OR CHALDEAN, KINGDOM. 

55. The earliest of the three kingdoms Was the Chaldaean, 
or Early Babylonian, which arose in the lower Physical de- 
part of the rich alluvial plain lying above the scnption. 
Persian Gulf. Chaldiea by its natural fertility was calcu- 
lated to be one of the first seats of human society. It 
is the only country in which wheat is known to be indi- 
genous. Other cereals grew plentifully; groves of the 
magnificent date-palm fringed the banks of the rivers ; the 



30 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

vine and other fruits abounded, while the rivers teemed 
with fish. 

56. Authentic history in the Tigro-Euphrates basin, as 
Earliest his- in the Nile Valley, commences only with the 

^°''y- formation in Chaldsea and Babylonia of one 

united kingdom, including previously disunited tribes under 
its authority. The Hebrew records name Nimrod, the son 
of Cush, as the founder of this kingdom ; and the Book of 
Genesis also reveals to us the existence of a Tetrapolis, or 
confederation of four cities, that ruled over the Empire 
established by Nimrod ; namely, i. Babylon; 2. E'rech; 3. 
Ac'cad ; 4. Cal'neh, — all of which places have been iden- 
tified in modern times. 

57. The primitive Chaldaeans practiced the worship of the 

heavenly bodies. Their religion, combined 
with the facilities afforded by their climate 
and their level horizon, led them from the earliest times to 
the study of astronomy, in which they made very consider- 
able progress. When Alexander the Great took possession 
of Babylon, 331 b. c, he found a series of astronomical ob- 
servations taken by the Chaldaeans for an unbroken period 
of 1903 years. These observations would therefore date 
from 2234 B. c. (331 + 1903). 

58. The Chaldaeans showed from the first an architect- 

ural tendency. The attempt to build a tower 
" which should reach to heaven," made here 
(Genesis xi. 4), was in accordance with the general spirit 
of the people. Out of such simple and rude material as 
brick and bitumen vast edifices, the ruins of v/hich have re- 
cently been found, were constructed, pyramidal in design, 
but built in steps or stages of considerable altitude. 

59. Other arts also flourished. Letters in the cuneiform, 

or wedge-shaped, characters were in use ; and 
the baked bricks employed by the royal build- 
ers had commonly a legend stamped in their center. Gems 



ASSVJ^IANS AND BABYLONIANS. 31 

were cut, polished, and engraved. Metals of many kinds 
were worked and fashioned into arms, ornaments, and im- 






l^^tfl^H^Wm^ 






tgTP^g^iii^-^ 



Babylonian Brick. 

plements. Delicate fabrics were manufactured by their 
looms. Commerce was carried on with other countries, 
and the " ships of Ur " traded along the shores of the 
Persian Gulf. 

60. The site of Ur is believed to have been identified 
with certain mounds and ruins on the banks of 

Ur, 

the lower Euphrates. This place is interesting 
in connection with Abraham, who was born at " Ur of the 
Chaldees." The period of Abraham is usually put at about 
two thousand years before the Christian era. The belief is 
that Chaldsa contained at this time a Semitic population 
which professed a pure form of religion, in the midst of the 
idolatrous Chaldaeans ; and hence Abraham, who was a 
Semite, emigrated with his family and flocks and herds to 
the land of Canaan. 

61. The Chaldaean monarchy continued for several cen- 
turies ; but about the 13th century b. c. it took Decline of 

a secondary position, and the newly arisen As- Chaidaea. 
Syrian nation became the dominant power of Mesopotamia. 



32 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 




Early history. 



3. ASSYRIA. 

62. The Ass5Tians are believed to have been a Semitic 
population who originally lived in Chaldasa, but 
who at an early period removed to the upper 

course of the Tigris. Here there grew up a kingdom which 
at first was subject to the Chaldaean ruler at Babylon, but 
which finally, about 1250 B.C., became independent. As- 
syria advanced rapidly and completely overshadowed Baby- 
lonia; and for six centuries, down to the fall of Nineveh, 
625 B. c, was the great imperial power of Western Asia. 

63. The six centuries of Assyrian history may be divid- 
Two periods ed iuto two periods. The first period is from 
of Assyria. ^^ independence of Ass5n-ia (about 1250 B. c.) 
to the foundation of the New Assyrian Empire under 
Tig'lath-pi-le'ser II., 745 B. c. \ the second is from the ac- 
cession of Tiglath-pileser II. to the fall of Nineveh, 625 b. c. 



ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 33 

64. Among the famous monarchs of the first period were 
Tiglath-pileser I. (1130 b. c), a conquering 

prince, and Asshur-idanni-pal (the original of 
Sardanapalus, but wholly unlike that mythic king), to whose 
time belong the winged bulls and lions and the sculptured 
palace-walls which have been dug from the ruins of Calah. 
Towards the end of this period Nabonas'sar, the ruler of 
Babylon, not only made himself independent, but gained a 
certain supremacy over Assyria. The date of this event, 747 
B. c, is known as the " era of Nabonassar." In 745 b. c, 
however, the authority of Assyria was revived by Tiglath- 
pileser IL, with whose accession begins the second period 
of Assyrian history. This monarch was a great conqueror, 
as were also his successors, Sargon and Shalmaneser IV. ; 
but the most splendid reign during the second period was that 
of SennaclVerib (705-681 b. c), who made extensive con- 
quests, and was the builder of magnificent structures at Nine- 
veh. This second period was the golden age of Assyrian art. 

65. The countries included within the limits of Assyria, 
at the height of its glory, were Babylonia (cov- Extent of the 
ering all the territory of the early Chaldaean Empire. 
Kingdom), Mesopotamia, Media, Syria, Phoenicia, a large 
part of Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt Under the Assyrian 
rule the subject states were generally allowed to retain their 
own government, but their kings were compelled to do hom- 
age and pay tribute to the Assyrian monarch as the " king 
of kings." 

66. The vast empire of Assyria was never more than a 
loosely tied bundle of petty states. The rec- „ 

Cause of decay. 

ords of the kings, engraved on slabs and cylin- 
ders, reveal a constant succession of revolts, wars, subjuga- 
tions, and deportations of whole populations. Thus Assyria 
had no inherent strength, and after culminating in the 7th 
century it began rapidly to fall in pieces. 

67. In the 7 th century Babylon made a successful rebel- 



34 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



Closing events. 



Nineveh de 
scribed. 



lion ; and when the Median conqueror Cyax'ares led a force 
from beyond the Zagros chain to attack As- 
syria, he was joined by the Babylonians linder 
Nabopolas'sar, the Assyrians were overthrown, Nineveh was 
captured, its splendid palaces and temples were given to the 
flames, and Assyria fell, never to rise again, 625 b. c. 

68. Nineveh was rather an assemblage of fortified pal- 
aces and temples, interspersed with clusters of 
meaner dwellings built of sun-dried bricks, than 

what is now understood by a city. For about sixty miles 
mounds of ruins dot the banks of the Tigris : these doubtless 
formed part of Nineveh ; but the heart of the vanished city 
seems to be represented by the mounds that are opposite 
the modern town of Mosul. So complete was its demolition, 
that even in the 4th century b. c, — time of Alexander the 
Great, — almost every vestige of it had disappeared. 

69. Summing up what the Assyrian people contributed 
Assyrian civi- to civilization, we find that their genius took 
lization. mainly the form of art and manufactures. In 
letters and in science _ _. -__ 




they were behind both 
the Chaldeans and the 
Egyptians. Architec- 
ture was their chief 
glory, and the palaces 
of Nineveh must have 
been of extraordinary 
splendor. Their sculp- 
ture, too, though never 
attaining Grecian purity 
Hnd perfection, was far 
in advance of Egyptian 
stiffness and conven- 
tionalism : it displays a 
wonderful grandeur, dignity, boldness, and strength. 



^-^^ 



ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 35 

70. In the useful and mechanical arts, they had reached 
great skill. They not only had transparent 
glass, but even lenses ; they were well ac- 
quainted with the principle of the arch, and constructed 
tunnels, aqueducts, and drains ; they knew the use of the 
pulley, the lever, and the roller ; they understood the arts of 
inlaying, enameling, and overlaying with metals ; they cut 
gems with the greatest skill and finish, and in the ordinary 
arts of life they were, twenty-five centuries ago, nearly on 
a par with the boasted achievements of the moderns. 



4. LATER BABYLONIAN KINGDOM. 

.71. During the six centuries of Assyrian dominion, — 
I2e;o to 62"^ B.C., — Babylon had been par- Political situ- 

. , , ■.. 1 1 1 . ^111 ation of Baby- 

tially eclipsed ; but the ancient Cnaldaean or ion. 
Babylonian nation never entirely lost its spirit of indepen- 
dence. When Assyria was overthrown by the Medes, 625 
B. c, Nabopolassar, who had aided the Medes, received as 
his share of the spoil the undisputed possession of Baby- 
lonia. 

72. This later Babylonian Kingdom lasted for 87 years 
(625-538 B.C.), till overthrown by the new Extent of his- 
conquering power of Persia. ^^'■y- 

73. Nabopolassar, the first monarch of the new Babylo- 
nian Kingdom, was succeeded by his son Nebu- Nebuchadnez- 
chadnez'zar, under whom the empire reached ^^^' 

its height of glory. Having in early life proved the sharp- 
ness of his sword upon Egypt, this king, during his long 
reign of forty-three years, undertook other wars, in which 
the siege of Tyre and the siege of Jerusalem stand out as 
conspicuous achievements. Besides his conquests, Nebu- 
chadnezzar distinguished himself by almost entirely rebuild- 
ing the city of Babylon. With his " unbounded command 
of naked human strength," he applied himself to those 



36 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

works which afterwards called forth his celebrated boast: 
" Is not this Great Babylon, that I have built for the house 
of the Kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the 
honor of my majesty ? " 

74. Babylon was a square city at least five times as 

large as London, and traversed diasronally by 

Babylon. , ^"^ , ' „ « r , • , , 

the Euphrates. Its walls — 338 feet high and 
85 feet thick — were studded with towers and pierced with 
brazen gates. Its palaces and its hanging gardens — a 
system of terraces in imitation of mountain scenery, formed 
to please Nebuchadnezzar's Median queen — were among 
the wonders of the world. 

75. Nebuchadnezzar was followed by four kings, the 

last of whom was Nabona'dius. This mon- 
arch had made his son Belshaz'zar the partner 
of his throne, and it is the name of Belshazzar that appears 
in the Scriptures in connection with the capture of Babylon. 

76. At this time a new power appeared from beyond the 
Persian con- Zagros Mountains. This power was the con- 
quest, quering army of the newly risen dominion of 
Persia. Under the command of the great Cyrus the Per- 
sians had gained ascendency over the Medes and begun 
a career of conquest. Appearing in Mesopotamia, they 
laid siege to Babylon, which was entered by diverting the 
course of the Euphrates, 538 b. c. Herodotus states that 
Babylon was taken " amid revelries," — thus confirming 
the account given in the Scriptures of the circumstances of 
the capture. The fearful handwriting on the palace wall, 
and the terrible denunciation of the prophet, form a scene 
too deeply impressed on our memories to need repetition 
here. 

77. In the fall of Babylonia the last of the three Meso- 

potamian kingdoms disappears from the stage 

Later history. ^. , . ^ i , , -r^ • • f 

of history. Conquered by the Persians in the 
6th century, Assyria and Babylonia became, two centuries 



ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 37 

later, a part of the vast possessions of Alexander the Great. 
Alexander designed Babylon to be the capital of his empire, 
and was preparing to restore its ancient splendor when he 
was prematurely cut off. Thenceforth its decay was rapid, 
and it is now a vast heap of ruins, tenanted only by the 
beasts and birds that love to haunt solitary places. 

78. The Babylonians were a mixed race, partly Hamites 
and partly Semites, and in some of their traits Babylonian 
they differed from the Assyrians. Their " wis- *="^*"''^- 
dom and learning " are celebrated both by the Jewish writers 
and by the Greek historians. They were careful observers 
of astronomical phenomena, and they had made considerable 
advance in mathematics. In science the Greeks confessed 
themselves the disciples of Babylonian teachers. 

79. They were eminently a commercial peoole : their 
land was a " land of traffic " and their city a 

" city of merchants." The looms of Babylon 
were famous for the production of textile fabrics, especially 
carpets and muslins ; and these were exchanged for the 
frankincense of Arabia, for the pearls and gems of India, 
for tin and copper from Phoenicia, and for the fine wool, 
lapis lazuli^ silk, gold, and ivory of the far East. 



CHRONOLOGIC SUMMARY. 

B.C. 

First authentic date in Chaldsan history 2234 

Chaldaean subjection and Assyrian independence . . . 1250 

Age of Tiglath-pileser 1 113° 

Era of Nabonassar , . . = 747 

Assyrian revival under Tiglath-pileser II 745 

Overthrow of Assyria by the Medes under Cyaxares . . 625 

Later Babylonian kingdom established ..... 625 

Accession of Nebuchadnezzar . 604 

Capture of Babylon by Cyrus .....*. 538 



38 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

CHAPTER IV. 
THE HEBREWS. 

80. Jewish history is the subject of particular study in 
Sacred his- Connection with the Scriptures. Hence no 
*°^^* detailed account of this people is required in 
this work. All that need be done is to indicate the few 
general points of contact with the world's history. 

81. The Hebrews were a pure Semitic race, and hence 

were kinsmen of the Phoenicians, Arabs, and 

The race. . . . ,. i r^ . , 

Assyrians. Accordmg to the Scriptures, the 
father of this people was Abraham, who in the 20th cen- 
tury B. c. removed from the plains of Mesopotamia to Ca- 
naan, the " promised land." 

82. The history of Abraham, and of his sons and grand- 
Period of jew- sons, is simply the story of a nomad family; 
ish history. ^^^ j^ -g j^Q^ ^-jj ^j^g ^-^g q£ ^^^ departure of 

the children of Israel from Egypt that Jewish national his- 
tory begins. This event is supposed to have taken place in 
1320. The interval between that event and the absorption 
of Judaea in the Roman Empire may be divided into four 
periods : — 

I. From the Exodus to the establishment of the mon- 
archy under Saul, 1320-1095 b. c. 

II. From the establishment of the monarchy to the sep- 
aration of the two kingdoms, 1095 -975 b. c. 

III. From the separation of the kingdoms to the Babylo- 
nian captivity, 975 - 586 b. c. 

IV. From the Babylonian captivity to the absorption of 
Judaea by Rome, 586-63 b. c. 

83. During the first period the Hebrew government was 
a theocracy (or a government of God), the divine will being 



THE HEBREWS. 



39 



manifested through the high-priest. For the conduct of 
affairs there was a succession of rulers and 
" Judges " ; these were designated to their 
office by revela- 



First Period. 



tion from heav- 
en, and they 
were obeyed by 
common con- 
sent, but they 
claimed no hon- 
ors of royalty. 
The last of this 
line of rulers 
was the prophet 
Samuel. 

84. The sec- 
ond period of 
Jewish history 
includes the era 
of the united 
monarchy, and 
it continues dur- 
ing three reigns. 
The first of the 
kings was Saul, 
who after a 
stormy reign of 
forty years was 






DOMINION 

OF Solomon 

^n/^ J^A cen ic ia. 




What was its eastern boundary ? 
nicia with reference to Palestine ? 



MAP STUDY. 

I. What sea formed the western boundary of the Holv Land ? 2. 

3. What was the situation of Phos- 

4. Name the chief river in the Holy 
"Land. 5. Locate the Dead (or Salt) Sea. 6. In what part was the 
Kingdom of Judah ? 7. The Kingdom of Israel ? 8. Where was the 
seat of the Philistines ? 9. Name the seaports. 10. Locate Jerusalem ; 
Samaria; Tadmor. 



40 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

succeeded by his son-in-law, David. This monarch, the 
greatest who ever ruled the nation, conquered Jerusalem 
from the Jeb'usites, and made it the seat both of the 
national government and religion. By his wars David ex- 
tended his dominion from the Red Sea to the Euphrates, 
and subdued the Philis'tines and other Syrian tribes. His 
son Solomon succeeded him in 1015 b. c. 

85. Under Solomon (1015-975 B.C.), the Israelites be- 
Reign of Solo- Came the paramount race in Syria, and the 
«ion. Jewish state was a real imperial power. At 
this time it had relations both with Egypt and Phoenicia ; 
Solomon shared the profits of Syrian commerce, and mar- 
ried the daughter of a Pharaoh. 

86. A third period, one of decline, set in immediately 
Period of de- after the reign of Solomon. The subject 
*^^^^^* states threw off the Jewish yoke; disunion 
took place among the Jews themselves, and the imperial 
power crumbled into two petty kingdoms, — that of Israel 
(capital at Samaria), composed of ten out of the twelve 
tribes, and that of Judah (capital at Jerusalem), made up of 
the other two. 

87. The kingdom of Israel lasted for about 250 years. 
Israel and It was finally Overwhelmed by Sargon, king 
Judah. Qf Assyria, and the ten tribes were carried 
into captivity, 721 b. c. The kingdom of Judah con- 
tinued more than a centuiy afterwards ; but Jerusalem 
was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (586 
B. c), the population of Judah were torn from their homes 
to pine in Babylon, and the history of the Jews ceased for 
seventy years. The triumph of Cjnns over Babylonia was 
followed by an edict by which the Jews were restored to 
their homes (536 b c). 

88. The interval between the return from captivity to tlie 

conquest of the Romans forms the Fourth 
Period of Jewish history. During this time 



THE HEBREWS. 



41 



the nation underwent many vicissitudes. First it formed a 
satrapy or province of the Persian Empire ; then, in 332 
B. c, it came under the sway of Alexander the Great, and 
for a hundred years after his death it was ruled by the 
Ptolemies of Egypt. The Greek language now became 
common in Judaea, and the Septuagint Version of the Penta- 
teuch was prepared in that language under the direction of 
Ptolemy Philadelphus. In the year 166 b. c. the Jews threw 
off the foreign yoke and secured their national independence ; 
but a century later, Jerusalem was captured by the Roman 
general Pompey (63 b. c), and Judaea became a part of the 

Roman prov- 
ince of Syria. 
The Jews were 
not obedient 
subjects, and 
drew down on 
themselves se- 
vere punish- 
ments. At 
length, in the 

year 70 a. d., Jerusalem was again taken after a long siege 
by Titus, the city was razed to the ground, and the nation 
became dispersed, as it now is, throughout every country 
of the world. 

89. In summing up Hebrew history as a whole we notice : 
I. That, in geographical extent, the Jewish state 
was but a limited domain, — the whole country ""^™^^y- 

* This interesting coin was struck in A. D, 77. The face of the coin 
(the obverse), shown on the left-hand side, represents the laurel-crowned 
head of Titus, with the inscription T[itus] CAES[ar] IMP[erator] 
AUG[usti] F[ilius] TR[ibunicia] P[otestate] CO[n]S[uI] VI [i. e. sex- 
turn] CENSOR; that is, Titus Caesar, Imperator,son of Augustus [i. e. 
Vespasian], with tribunitial power, sixth time consul, censor. On the 
back of the coin (or reveise), at the right-hand side, is a female figure 
seated under a palm-tree, behind which are a standard, helmets, etc. ; 
and oh this side is the inscription IVDAEA CAPTA, i. e. Judcea taken. 




Coin of Titus.* 



42 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

being only 150 miles long by about 50 miles wide ; 2. That, 
compared with the great Oriental empires, with Assyria and 
Babylonia, Egypt and Persia, its political importance was 
slight; 3. That the Jewish people contributed little to 
ancient civilization, so far as regards art, science, or politics. 
90. The meaning and the mission of the Hebrew race 
Mission of the wcre not in these forms of activity: it was 
Jews. given that people to influence the world in an 

entirely different way, namely, through spiritual truths and 
moral ideas embodied in sublime forms by bards and sages. 
These works, reverenced by us as the body of Old Testa- 
ment literature, remain the permanent possession of the 
whole human family. 



CHRONOLOGIC SUMMARY. 

B. C. 

Migration of Abraham (about) 1920 

The Exodus . 1320 

Establishment of the monarchy under Saul 1095 

Accession of Solomon 1015 

Division of the kingdom . . . , . . , . 975 

Captivity of the Israelites 721 

Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonish captivity). 586 

Return of the Jews 536 

Subjugation of Judaea by Alexander 332 

•Absorption by Rome . . 63 



THE PHCENICIANS. 43 



CHAPTER V. 
THE PHOENICIANS. 

91. Phcenicia was one of the most important countries of 
the ancient world, and to us the Phoenicians interest of 
are one of the most interesting peoples of early *^^^^ history, 
history. The interest and importance of this nation do not 
arise from the extent of its territory, — for Phcenicia proper 
was all comprised in a mere strip of land between Mount 
Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, — but from the fact 
that the Phoenicians hold a high place in the history of 
primitive civilization. 

92. The Phoenicians were the earliest commercial and 
colonizing people on the shores of the Medi- Traders and 
terranean Sea. There they preceded the Greeks, Colonizers, 
who subsequently became their great rivals in trading and in 
planting settlements. It was not until about 1000 b. c. that 
the Greeks began to push off from the mainland and to oc- 
cupy the islands of the ^gsean Sea and the shores of Asia 
Minor, — and when they did commence to spread themselves 
from the mainland to the islands, they found the Phoenicians 
already settled there. 

93. As early, probably, as the 9th century b. c. the enter- 
prising Phoenicians had founded on the north- „ , 

■^ ° Carthage. 

ern coast of Africa the colony of Carthage, 
which became the most famous of the Phoenician colonies, 
and which, five or six hundred years after this, guided by the 
mihtary genius of Han'nibal, ventured to cope with the 
mighty power of the Roman Commonwealth. 

94. The Phoenicians had gone even farther: they had 
made their way beyond what the Greeks called Extent of set- 
the " Pillars of Hercules," that is, the Strait of Elements. 



A4 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



Gibraltar, and had sailed 
into the Atlantic Ocean. 
There they had founded 
the city of Ga'des (now 
Cadiz). Sailing over the 
Atlantic, their merchants 
sought the southern parts 
of the British Islands to 
procure tin from Cornwall. 
In the Eastern seas the 
Phoenicians had made es- 
tablishments on the Ara- 
bian and Persian Gulfs, 
whence they traded with 
India and Ceylon and the 
coasts of Africa. Thus 
we see that the Phoeni- 
cians were navigators, mer- 
chants, and planters of 
colonies several centuries 
before the Greeks rose to 
any note in the world. 

95. The Phoenicians as 
Influence of planters of 
colonies. colonics had 

an important influence on 
the progress of civilization. 



from the Mediterranean Sea 




and of political freedom ; and 



MAP STUDY. 

I. Where was Phoenicia ? 2. What nation immediately south ? 3. In 
what respect was Phcenicia well situated for commerce ? 4. Name the 
five principal Phoenician cities. 5. Where was the territory of Carthage ? 
6. The city of Carthage ? 7. Utica ? 8. What was the name of the 
Phoenician territory in southern Spain ? 9. Where was Gades ? 10. 
Name the large Mediterranean islands in which the Phoenicians had 
colonies. 



THE PHCENICIANS. 45 

we must now try to understand how this was. Colonies are 
founded by trading nations for the purpose of securing a 
lucrative commerce, by establishing a market for the manu- 
factured produce of the parent state, and a carrying-trade 
for its merchants and seamen. This is the motive; and we 
see that it contrasts very noticeably with the cause that leads 
despotic states to form military establishments, — which is 
mere lust of conquest for conquest's sake. Colonies plant- 
ed by commercial states require to be flourishing in order 
that the mother country shall have profitable relations with 
them. The parent country, knowing this, leaves the colonies 
to the guidance of persons advanced in political knowledge, 
who know how to adapt the institutions of the home gov- 
ernment to the actual state of affairs in the new settlement : 
hence it has generally happened that civil libert}'- has devel- 
oped more rapidly in commercial colonies than in the par- 
ent country itself. 

96. The ancient Phoenicians were the inventors of the 
first perfect alphabet. This is a very signifi- .... 
cant and interesting fact ; for, all things consid- 
ered, the art of alphabetical writing is probably the most 
important invention ever made by man. We have seen 
that the Egyptians developed the germ of the alphabet ; but 
the Egyptian writing was only in part phonetic : hence the 
hieroglyphic alphabet was very cumbersome, consisting of 
several hundred characters, no sound having one fixed and 
invariable character to represent it. The cuneiform, wedge- 
shaped, or arrow-headed characters of the Babylonians and 
Assyrians were not truly phonetic : they represented, as a 
general thing, syllables rather than sounds. It was reserved 
for the Phoenicians to adopt the apparently simple, yet in- 
genious and beautiful, device of determining the few ele- 
mentary sounds of language and appropriating one distinc- 
tiye character to represent each sound. The period of the 
invention is not definitely known. 



46 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

97. The Greeks were directly indebted to the Phoeni- 

cians for the alphabet; the Romans adopted 
the Greek alphabet with some changes; the 
Roman alphabet is the basis of our modern alphabets. 
The Greeks themselves were ignorant of precisely how they 
obtained the alphabet from the Phoenicians. The account 
they gave is that " Cadmus brought sixteen letters from 
Phoenicia into Greece, to which Palame'des, in the time of 
the Trojan war, added four more, and Simon'ides afterwards 
added four." * Modern scholars have proved that Cadmus 
is a mere fabled name signifying "the East." However, it 
is quite certain that the Greeks did derive their alphabet 
from Phoenicia. The transition from the Phoenician to the 
Greek may be readily perceived by examining the table on 
the opposite page. 

98. The origin of the Phoenician nation is lost in the 
Origin of the darkncss that shrouds primitive history. It 
Phoenicians. -g ^^own that, like the Hebrews, they were 
pure Semites. There is reason to believe that they were 
emigrants from Chaldaea, and as it is recorded in the He- 
brew Scriptures that Abraham came out of "Ur of the 
Chaldees," we may infer that Southern Mesopotamia was 
the native seat of the Semites. When the Phoenician branch 
of the Semites reached their new home on the shores of 
the Mediterranean, they found an aboriginal population of 
Ca'naanites, whom they subdued, just as the Jews did in 
Judaea. We also know that the Phoenician and Jewish 
rulers and peoples were connected by ties of friendship. 
Hiram, King of Tyre, was the friend both of David and of 
Solomon. 

99. Phoenicia consisted of several independent states. 
Nature of the each city, in fact, being a separate state, under 
nation. j^g ^^^ j^'j^g . ^^^ ^^^ -j^ times of danger did 

they occasionally unite under the leadership of the most 
* Pliny. 



THE PHCENICIANS. 



47 



HEBREW. 


PHOENICIAN. 


ANCIENT GREEK. 


LATER GREEK. 


ENGLISH. 


i^ 


^^ 


A/<;/lA 


A A 


A 


n 


^ 


^ /^ 


B 


B 


:3 


^'1 


/\^/^C 


r 


G 


^ 


A^ 


^Z!.VP 


^ 


D 


i\ 


^ 


^^/^/S^l^ 


EG 


E 


1 


1 


A /^ 




F 


*? 


Z 


X 2 -zr 


Z 


Z 


n 


H 


H ^ 




H 


to 


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48 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 




powerful. The chief cities of Phoenicia proper were Siddn 
and Tyre. Of these Sidon was the more ancient ; and pre- 
vious to about 1050 B. c, when Tyre became predominant, 
it was the most flourishing of 
all the Phoenician commu- 
nities. About 1050 there 
was a transfer of power to 
Tyre. 

100. The commerce of 

Commerce of Tyre is dc- 

^y'^- scribed as very 

extensive at this time. Her 
ships sailed to Tarshish 
(the south of Spain), and 
sought the gold of Ophir, 
along the east coast of Af- 
rica. Phoenicia grew rich 
also by exports, of which the chief were the embroidery and 
glass of Sidon and the Tyrian purple, a dye yielded by two 
shell-fish, which gave a high value to the stuffs woven in 
the Tyrian looms. The Phoenicians were also skillful in 
metallurgy; and their bronzes, their gold and silver ves- 
sels, and other works in metal, had a high repute. 

101. Phoenicia was successively subject to Assyria, in the 
Revolution of 9th ccntury ; to the Babylonians, under Nebu- 
pohtics. chadnezzar, at the close of the 7th century; 
to the Persians, under Cambyses, towards the close of 
the 6th century ; and to tlie Greeks, under Alexander the 
Great, in the 4th century b. c. Still later it was absorbed 
in the universal dominion of Rome, 63 b. c. 

102. The greatest period of Phoenician history was dur- 
Generai sur- ing the fivc hundred years from the i ith to the 

6th century b. c. As Greece rose to power, and 



Tyre, and Phoenician Galley- 



vey. 



as Carthage increased in importance, the sea-trade of Phoe- 
nicia was to a considerable degree checked. However, she 



THE PHCENICIANS. 49 

continued to preserve a great caravan-trade with the interior 
of Asia via Babylon. The foundation of Alexandria as a 
seaport must have damaged the commerce of Phoenicia. 
Still, it was not until the Middle Ages that her light went 
out, and she became a " place for the drying of nets." 

103. The Phoenicians deserve to be commemorated in 
history by the side of the Greek and the Latin Part played by 

. •' -^ . , r 1 * • • , the Phoeni- 

nations, as the only one of the Asiatic peoples cians. 
that became a diffuser of civilization. We should note, how- 
ever, that their development was very one-sided. Thus 
their religious conceptions were rude and uncouth, and this 
is a remarkable fact, when we consider their kinship with 
the Plebrews. In learning and in artistic productions they 
were far behind the Babylonians ; so that in intellectual 
matters they appear to have been adaptors rather than 
originators. Again, unlike the Greeks and Latins, the 
Phoenicians seem to have been devoid of genuine political 
instinct : liberty had no charm for them, and they aspired 
not after dominion. " Careless they dwelt," says the Book 
of Judges, " after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and 
secure." 

104. The Phoenicians were a race essentially material- 
istic and commercial. They were the earliest Their civiiiza- 
merchants, carriers, and colonizers. It is true *'°"* 

that, incidentally, they were the means of diffusing intel- 
lectual wares that were more valuable than all the products 
of the Sidonian shops or the fabrics of the Tyrian looms : 
they spread the alphabet, and they gave to the Aryan races 
on the shores of the Mediterranean ideas of learning, sci- 
ence, and art which they themselves had borrowed from 
the East; but these ideas were scattered by them "more 
after the fashion of a bird dropping grains than of the 
husbandman sowing his seed."* 

* Mommsen, History of Rome. 



50 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE HINDOOS. 

105. The Oriental nations of which we have thus far 

learned have been either Semites or Hamites. 
* We are now to inquire into the history of the 
two Asiatic representatives of the great Aryan race, — the 
Hindoos and the Persians. 

106. We have already seen that the forefathers of all the 
First seat of great European peoples came originally from 
the Aryans. Western Asia, where they dwelt side by side 
with the ancestors of the Persians and Hindoos. But the 
original seat of the undivided Aryan family was not Persia 
or India. The Persians were immigrants into Persia, and 
the Hindoos into India, just as the Greeks, Latins, Teutons, 
Celts, and Slavonians were immigrants into Europe. The 
original seat of the undivided Aryan stock is fixed by schol- 
ars to the northeast of Persia, in the region of the Oxus and 
Jax-ar'tes rivers. 

107. The primitive Hindoos, leaving their native seat, 
Hindoo migra- first Settled in the northwestern part of India. 
*^°"" It seems to have been about the year 3000 
B. c. * that they crossed the Indus and established them- 
selves between that river and the Jumna, since known among 
themselves as Ar'ya Var'ta. Some time afterwards we find 
them occupying all the country north of the Vindya range. 

108. At this time the peninsula of India was occupied 
Amaigama- by native dark races. These were speedily 
*^°"* subdued by the fair-skinned Aryans, who 
eventually overspread the entire country. In process of 

* According to Sanscrit scholars, 3101 B. c. 



THE HINDOOS. 5 I 



time these lost much of their purity of blood by intermix- 
ing with the native tribes, many of whose customs and 
ideas they adopted, and in the end they almost wholly lost 
their identity. This fact explains much that is peculiar 
in the civilization of the Hindoos. The Aryans in general 
are a progressive and practical race ; but the Hindoos, after 
making considerable advances in literature and philoso- 
phy, became stationary, and had very little influence on 
the great current of the world's history. We shall see that 
their kinsmen the Persians, being left unmixed, developed 
far more of those characteristics that marked the Euro- 
pean members of the Aryan stock, — the Greeks, Latins, 
Teutons, etc. 

109. The first historical notice that we have of India in 
relation with Europe is at that great epoch Alexander's 
in its history, its invasion by Alexander the "^^^^*- 
Great (326 b. c), in the course of his world-conquering expe- 
dition. The Macedonian leader merely looked into India, 
fought a few engagements with the native princes, and then 
returned ; but the historians who accompanied the expe- 
dition left a description of Indian society, — and it corre- 
sponds almost exactly with what may be seen at the present 
day. 

110. At the time of Alexander Indian society was firmly 
fixed in castes, similar to the state of thinp:s 

. , . ' 11 Castes. 

we found in Egypt ; and the same system 
both prevails to the present day and has prevailed from 
time immemorial. The Hindoos made four divisions of 
society : i. The Brahmins, whose proper business was re- 
ligion and philosophy; 2. The Kshatriyas, who attended to 
war and government; 3. The Vaisyas, who were the mer- 
chants and farmers ; 4. The Sudras, or artisans and laborers. 
Below even the lowest of these classes were the Pa^riahs, or 
outcasts, who performed the meanest of all labors. As a 
general thing, every person was required to follow the pro- 



52 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

fession of the caste to which he belonged, and the regula- 
tions about intermarriage were very rigidly prescribed. 

111. The division into castes probably arose from the 

desire of the conquering Aryans to keep up a 

Origin of caste. ... . , ^ . ^ / i , . r 

distmction between themselves and the mfe- 
rior tribes about them ; and the Hindoo word for caste, 
varna, is said to mean color. 

112. The language of the ancient Hindoos was the Saft- 
Sanscrit scrtt ; it is not now spoken, and is understood 
speech. only by the Brahmins and by scholars who 
have studied it. It was the opening up of this tongue to 
the knowledge of European scholars, at the close of the 
last century, that led to the grouping of all the languages 
of Europe along with the Sanscrit as the Indo-European 
(Aryan) family of tongues. It was found that Sanscrit, 
both in its words and grammar, bore a remarkable likeness 
to the Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, and Slavonic languages ; 
and though Sanscrit is not now regarded as ih^ parent of these 
dialects, it is looked upon as the language the nearest to 
the original speech of the undivided Aryans. 

113. In this highly developed language the learned men 
Hindoo liter- of ancient Hindostan recorded a vast body of 
ature. literature, much of which has been preserved 
to the present day. Among the oldest of these writings are 
the Vedas, which are believed to be as old as 2000 b. c. 
They form part of the sacred books of the Brahminic re- 
ligion. 

114. The Vedas distinctly set forth the doctrine that 

there is " one unknown true Being, all-present, 
all-powerful, the creator, preserver, and de- 
stroyer of the universe." This Supreme Being " is not con- 
ceivable by vision or by any other of the organs of sense." 
But the prevailing theology which runs through them is 
what is called pantheism, or that system which speaks of 
God as the soul of the universe, or as the universe itself. 



THE HINDOOS. 53 



" In him the whole world is absorbed ; from him it issues ; 
he is entwined and interwoven with all creation." " All 
that exists is God ; whatever we smell, or taste, or see, or 
hear, or feel, is the Supreme Being." The Invisible Su- 
preme Being, according to the Hindoos, manifests himself 
in three forms, — as Brahma the creator, Vishnu the pre- 
server, and Siva the destroyer. 

115. The central point of the Hindoo theology was the 
doctrine of transmigration of souls. Accord- Doctrine of 
ing to this doctrine the human soul is joined tion. 

to earthly bodies only for the purpose of punishment, and 
its aim and effort are to reunite itself with the Divine 
Spirit of the universe. The Hindoo, therefore, regards ex- 
istence in this world as a time of trial and punishment, to 
be abridged by prayer and sacrifice, by penance and purifi- 
cation. If a man neglects these, his soul after death will be 
joined to the body of an inferior animal, and will have to 
commence its wanderings afresh. 

116. In addition to the Vedas, the Hindoos possess a 
very extensive literature, both prose and po- 
etical. A considerable number of these works ^ ' * 



have been translated by modem scholars. They are ex- 
ceedingly curious, and of the highest worth as illustrative 
of the mental state of this peculiar ancient representative 
of our own Aryan stock ; but the absence of artistic form 
prevents their being appreciated by general readers, and 
hence lessens their literary value. 

117. There are in India copious remains of ancient art. 
Among the most remarkable of the monuments 

■,■,-, , , Architecture. 

are the rock-hewn temples and grottos, espe- 
cially those found at Ello'ra, in the middle of Lower India, 
and at the Island of Elephan'ta, in the Bay of Bombay. 
These are elaborately sculptured and inscribed, and must 
have required the labor of thousands of hands for ages. 

118. In the 6th century b. c. there arose in India a new 



54 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



Commerce. 



system of religion called Buddhism. Its founder was an 
Indian prince named Gautauma. It s^rew 

Buddhism. . ^ . , .... ^- r 

out of a social and religious reaction from 
the abuses of the old Brahminism ; and it was no doubt in 
many respects an important reform. It spread rapidly, 
and is still the religion of one third of the human race. 
119. Though during the whole period of antiquity India 
remained shut out from what was then the civ- 
ilized world, it nevertheless had an important 
influence on ancient commerce. The abundance of the pro- 
ductions of nature and art — pearls, precious stones, ivory, 
spice, frankincense, and silks — made that region from an 
early period the center of a great maritime and caravan trade. 
The Phoenicians, as we have seen, were engaged in the car- 
rying-trade of India both by land and sea. The same busi- 
ness was inherited by the Italian republics during the 
Middle Ages ; and the " pearl and gold " of India found 
their way through Arabia and the Red Sea to the Mediter- 
ranean, till Vasco da Gama, in the time of Columbus, round- 
ed the Cape of Good Hope. 




Rock Temple of Injdia. 



from 



80 








\ p^-N 1 A , ^ O ^ 



-^.-v 




,^/v, 



'057- 




*«""-"' «,.■>'■'"■ 



'exander m . i 

ote " satrapies." or div isi ons. 
127 froM Vianliina 




isrlli SiTuthrr 



THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 55 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 

I. HISTORICAL OUTLINE. 

120. It will be convenient to connect the history of the 
Medes with that of the Persians for two rea- Connection of 
sons: I. The people of both countries be- Persia.^" 
longed to the same race ; 2. Although Media and Persia 
were for a time separate governments, yet very soon Media 
was absorbed in Persia. 

121. On the plateau east of the chain of Zagros — the 
plain of ancient Iran — dwelt a hardy race, the origin of the 
Medes, and a kindred stock, the Persians, ^^'^^s- 
They were both pure Aryans. They were immigrants from 
the northeasterly native seat of the Aryan stock. By vari- 
ous successive movements, which were not completed till 
the 8th century b. c, they established themselves in the 
highlands of Media and Persia. 

122. The Medes first come to notice in connection with 
the Assyrians. About b. c. 710 Sarsron, an 

A • , / ^;r 1- Early Medes. 

Assyrian monarch, conquered some Median 

territory, and planted it with colonies, in which he placed 

MAP STUDY. 

See map of the Persian Empire, opposite this page. 

I. What sea formed the western boundary of the Persian Empire ? 
2. What countries to the east .? 3. What sea south } 4. What two 
gulfs south ? 5. What three seas to the north .? 6 What country in 
Africa was inclosed in the Persian Empire ? 7. What satrapies in the 
Tigro-Euphrates basin? 8. What is the situation of Persia Proper 
(Persis) ? 9. Into what river do the Oxus and Jaxartes empty? 10. 
What mountain chain to the east of the Tigro-Euphrates basin? ii. 
Where were Persepolis ; Susa ; the two Ecbatanas ; Maracanda ? 



56 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

the Israelites from the cities of Samaria who had been led 
into captivity by thp Assyrians. 

123. But the Assyrians could not hold in subjection the 

Medes, who grew in power and established a 
great Median monarchy under Cyaxares, 633 
B. c. He was a conquering king: invading Assyria, he 
destroyed Nineveh in 625 b. c, and pushed the Median 
arms westward into Asia Minor. This king, the founder 
of the Median monarchy, was succeeded by his son Asty'- 
ages, under whom the brief dominion of Media gave place 
to the rule of Persia under Cyrus the Great. 

124. During this early period of the Median monarchy, 

the Persians also had established a kingdom 

Early Persians. ,. ^ . . ^ ^ . \ t_ . -^ 

(m Persis, or ancient Persia proper) ; but it 
was in a measure subject to Media. While Astyages was 
king of the Medes Cambyses was king of the Persians, but 
Cambyses acknowledged Astyages as his suzerain, and paid 
him tribute. The daughter of the Median monarch Asty- 
ages was married to the Persian prince Cambyses, and to 
them a son was born named Cyrus. Cyrus lived as a sort 
of hostage at the court of his grandfather Astyages, and 
could not leave it without permission. 

125. Thus much in the life of Cyrus is true history ; but 
Legend of when wc go much further, we are immediately 
Cyrus. plunged into fable. Both Herodotus and Xen'- 
ophon* exalted Cyrus to the rank of a hero of romance. 
The following is the current story of his early life. Asty- 
ages having dreamed that his daughter's son should con- 
quer all Asia, intrusted to a courtier, Har'pagus, the task 
of killing the little Cyrus. Harpagus gave the child to a 
herdsman, who promised to expose it on the mountains. 

* Xenophon, a Greek historian, was born about 444 b. c, and was 
a disciple and friend of Socrates. He wrote a work on Cyrus called 
Cyropcedia (literally, Education of Cyrus) ; but it is rather a political 
romance than an authentic history. 



THE PERSIAN EMPIRE, 57 

But the herdsman was led to substitute his own dead baby 
for the living prince, who grew up in a humble station. 
The secret was disclosed, when Cyrus began to lord it over 
his playfellows and beat them. A noble's son complained 
to the king, and the royal boy was recognized. Astyages 
took a barbarous revenge on Harpagus, by cooking the 
courtier's son and serving up the flesh for the father to 
partake of. Cyrus was sent to his father, and Harpagus 
bided his time for revenge. When the time was ripe, he 
sent a secret message to Cyrus, who invaded Media, was 
welcomed by crowds of deserting troops, and by their aid 
overturned the Median throne, 558 b. c. We need not at- 
tempt to discover what basis of truth, if any, there may be 
in this legend. One fact is certain, that under Cyrus the 
Persians became the ruling power. 

126. Commencing his reign in 558 b. c, Cyrus first sub- 
dued all the northern and western provinces conquests of 
of the old Median kingdom. On the western ^y'^^s- 
frontier the most formidable enemy he encountered was 
Croesus, King of Lydia, in Asia Minor. Croesus, taking the 
offensive, led his army from Sardis, his capital, across the 
river Ha'lys (which formed the boundary between the Per- 
sian and the Lydian territory), and an indecisive action was 
fought near Sino'pe. But Cyrus followed up, and by the 
overthrow of Croesus and capture of Sardis added all Asia 
Minor west of the Halys to the dominion of Persia, 554 b. c* 
Next, most of the Greek cities and colonies on the coast of 
Asia Minor and the adjoining islands were subdued. The 
remote East now claimed the attention of Cyrus, and be- 
tween the years 553 -540 b. c. he was employed in the sub- 
jugation of the various tribes in the region between Persia 
and the Indus, — Parthia, Bactriana, Sogdiana, etc.t The 

* This is the date of the fall of Croesus, according to Rawlinson ; most 
other chronologers place it at 546 B. c. 

t See Map of Persian Empire, opposite p. 55. 



58 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

greater glory of reducing the mighty power of Babylonia 
now remained : this was accomplished by the capture of 
Babylon (538 b. c), as already described. (See page 36.) 

127. During his career of twenty-nine years, Cyrus ex- 
Extent of his tended the Persian dominion from the Indus to 
empire. ^^ Hellespont, from the Jaxartes to the Syrian 
shore ; and indeed he left to his successors only the com- 
pletion and consolidation of his work, for by his own efforts 
he had made Persia the great imperial power of Asia. 

128. Of the whole line of Persian monarchs Cyrus was 
the greatest, and his character is far more worthy of re- 
spect than that of any of his successors. He was a great 
Character of conqucror without being a cruel ruler, and to 
Cyrus. remarkable ability as a soldier he added many 
noble traits as a man. 

129. Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses. To 

another son, named Smerdis, Cyrus had Hven 
Cambyses. , , . . ' . ' -^ ? 

the dommion over some important provmces. 

This arrangement cost Smerdis his life, by rousing the jeal- 
ousy of his brother, who very early in his reign caused him 
to be put to death secretly. The chief event of Cambyses's 
reign was his conquest of Egypt in 525 b. c. In Egypt 
Cambyses behaved with great wantonness and cruelty. He 
forced the Egyptian king Psammen'itus to drink poison ; he 
shocked the Egyptians by stabbing a calf which they regard- 
ed as sacred ; and on one occasion, when a courtier told him 
at his own request that popular rumor blamed him for drink- 
ing to excess, he proved the steadiness of his hand and eye 
by piercing the heart of that courtier's son with an arrow. 

130. The absence of Cambyses brought about a revolution 

^ at the Persian capital. A Masfian, named Go- 

Revolution. \ . 1,11 o 

mates, personated the murdered brother bmer- 

dis, and headed a conspiracy that raised him to the throne. 
When Cambyses heard the news, he hastened towards Per- 
sia, but while on the way he died, — some say by suicide, 



THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 59 

others from an accidental wound from his own dagger, — 
522 B. c, after having reigned less than eight years. The 
reign of the false Smerdis was brief. Dari'us, the son of 
Hystas'pes, governor of one of the Persian provinces, and 
himself belonging to the royal family, headed an insurrec- 
tion, and the impostor was slain after he had reigned eight 
months. 

131. Darius I. (Darius Hystaspes), who ascended the 
throne 521 b. c, was, next to Cyrus, the great- Reign of Da- 
est of the Persian monarchs. He completed ""®" 

the work that Cyrus began. Cyrus by his o.orvo^^'sAs founded 
the empire ; Darius organized it. To him belongs the credit 
of having given to the Persian Empire that peculiar politi- 
cal system and arrangement that maintained it in a fairly 
flourishing condition for nearly two centuries. 

132. Darius divided the whole empire into twenty " satra- 
pies," or provinces ; the native tributary kings Persian gov- 
being swept away, and each province governed ^^""^^"t. 

by a Persian official called a sai7'ap. A fixed rate of tribute 
took the place of arbitrary exactions. " Royal roads " were 
established, and a system of posts arranged, whereby the 
court received rapid intelligence of all that occurred in the 
provinces. The great centers of Persian power were fixed 
at Susa, the spring residence of the king; Ecbat'ana, his 
summer abode ; and Babylon, the winter-quarters. 

133. The most interesting event in the reign of Darius is 
the commencement of the Persian invasions Relations with 
of Greece. Some of the Greek cities of Ionia ^''^^'^^^ 

in Asia Minor, which had been brought under Persian do- 
minion by Cyrus, revolted ; the Athenians encouraged them 
in this revolt, and this brought Persia and Greece into col- 
lision on the plains of Marathon, 490 b. c. [As nearly all 
that is striking in the after history of Persia interweaves 
itself with the affairs of Greece, the narrative will best be 
given in connection with Grecian history.] 



60 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



2. PERSIAN CIVILIZATION. 

134. The Persians belonged to the same stock as the 
Persian char- Medes, but they seem to have been even more 
acter. purely Aryan, — and the term * Aryan* is itself 
a Persian word signifying noble. When we first meet them 
in history, they are a race of hardy mountaineers, brave in 
war, rude in manners, simple in their habits, abstaining from 
wine, and despising all the luxuries of food and dress. 
Though not highly intellectual, the Persians were keen- 
witted, vivacious, and fond of poetry and art. Indeed, they 
seem in many respects prototypes of the Greeks, whose 
kinsmen, through a common Aryan descent, they were. 
They afterwards lost their noblest traits of character and 
became a servile Asiatic race j but it was during their hardy, 
virtuous prime that all their conquests were made. 

135. As builders and artists, the Persians were first 

pupils of the Assyrians and Babylonians. The 
magnificent temples and palaces of Nineveh 
and Babylon had been in existence many centuries before 
the race of Iran began to do anything in art, and it was not 
till they came in contact with the Assyrians and Babylo- 
nians that they commenced to erect noble structures. Then, 
however, they did more than merely imitate : they adapted^ 
so as to make a new architectural style of their own. This 
style may be said to stand midway between the solemn and 
heavy grandeur of Egyptian and Assyrian architecture and 
the perfect beauty of the Grecian. The great masterpieces, 
of Persian building consist of palaces and tombs^ — their 
outdoor and simple worship requiring no imposing temples. 
The most famous remains of Persian architecture are the 
ruins of the royal palaces at Persep'olis. The distinguish- 
ing features of these are the solid and handsome stone plat- 
forms, the noble staircases richly sculptured in bas-reliefs, 
and the profusion of light and elegant stone columns. 



THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 6 1 

136. The Persians did very little in the mechanical arts. 
It was their boast that they were soldiers and 

Arts 

had won by-their swords a position that gave 
them command of the products and wares of other nations. 
So long as the carpets and muslins of Babylon and Sardis, 
the shawls of Cashmere and India, the fine linen of Egypt, 
and the varied manufactures of the Phoenician towns poured 
continually into Persia, it was needless for the native popu- 
lation to engage in manufacturing industry. 

137. The Persians had a much purer and nobler religion 
than the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, or 
Phoenicians. They were not idolaters. In- ^^^'^'°"- 
deed, in the primitive period the main feature of their re- 
ligion was the acknowledgment and the worship of a single 
supreme God, — " the Lord God of heaven." But this at 
an early date gave way to the doctrine of the perpetual 
conflict of two great First Principles, that of Light and 
that of Darkness, personified under the names of Aura- 
mazda, or Or'mazd, and Ahriman'. 

138. The Persian religion was further corrupted by the 
intermixture of a system of worship of the 
elements, — a system which the Medes had ^^^ ^°*^^ ^^* 
learned from the Scythians, and which ultimately overlaid 
the purer doctrines of the Persians. The leading feature 
was fire-worship, or Magianism (from Magi, the name of 
the priests of this rite). On lofty mountain-spots fire- 
altars were erected, on which burned a perpetual flame, 
watched constantly lest it should expire, and believed to 
have been kindled from heaven. Here day -after day the 
Magi chanted their incantations, displayed their divining- 
rods, and practiced those arts called, after them, magic. 

139. The government of Persia as ruler over many coun- 
tries was a great advance on the theory of 
government of the other Oriental empires. 

It was more than a mere loosely joined congeries of king- 



62 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



Literature. 



doms, — it was a real imperial dominion. The government 
was upon the whole singularly mild, and by far the noblest 
and the best of all the universal empires of antoquity. 

140. There is no doubt that the Persians had a consid- 
erable literature, but very few fragments of 
it have survived. The oldest literary monu- 
ment of the Iranic race is the collection called the Zend- 
Avesta, which contains the sacred books of the Persians, 
and which was compiled by Zoroas'ter, the great religious 
legislator of the Persians. We can form some idea of an- 
cient Persian poetry from a poem called the Shah Nameh, 
an epic composed by Firdousi, the greatest poet of Persia, 
about the middle of the loth century a. d. Though writ- 
ten at a time long subsequent to the Persian greatness, it 
is yet valuable as based on ancient traditions and frag- 
ments of song and story. Judging the poetical faculty of 
the Persians by this epic, we should say that they were 
distinguished rather for lively fancy and arabesque con- 
ceits than for true creative imagination such as distinguished 
the Greeks, or for the grand inspiration that breathes 
through the productions of the Hebrew bards and prophets. 




The Tomb of Cyrus. 



THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 63 



CHRONOLOGIC SUMMARY. 

B. C. 

The Medes under Cyaxares overthrow Assyria and become the 

leading power in Asia 625 

Accession of Cyrus and supremacy of Persia .... 558 

Subjugation of Lydia 554 

Capture of Babylon 538 

Accession of Cambyses 529 

Conquest of Egypt by Cambyses 525 

Accession of Darius Hystaspes 521 

Persian invasion of Greece 490 



Note on Asia Minor, — Lydia. — The peninsula of Asia Minor 
was occupied from very early times by various nations ; but as these 
were of secondary importance, nothing need here be said of their history 
save in the case of Phrygia and Lydia. 

It is believed that the earliest dominant people of Asia Minor were 
the Phrygians, who at one time occupied the whole of the peninsula. 
The people were engaged in agriculture and commerce. Their capital 
was Gordium, and the kings were alternately Gor'dias and Mi'das ; 
but great obscurity rests on their history. Phrygia became a province 
of Lydia in 560 B. c. 

Lydia in the 7th century rose to be the ruling power in Asia Minor. 
The last and greatest king of this nation was Croesus, who is famous in 
history for his enormous wealth. When Cyrus on his career of con- 
quest carried the Persian arms into Western Asia, Croesus made an 
alliance with Sparta, Egypt, and Babylon to resist him ; but, as we have 
seen, Cyrus was victorious, Croesus was made prisoner, and Lydia was 
absorbed in Persia, 554 B. c. 



64 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
COMMERCE OF THE ANCIENTS. 

141. The three most commercial nations of antiquity 
Ancient com- ^.nterior to the Greeks were the Babylonians,, 
merciai na- Phoenicians, and Carthas^inians. A brief sketch 

tions. ' ^ 

of the great routes of the trade of these na- 
tions, together with the leading articles of exchange, will 
be found of value in connection with the interesting map 
presented on the opposite page. 

142. Babylonia, with its admirable situation, was one of 
Babylonian the leading emporiums of ancient commerce, 
trade. 'pj^-g Xx^Aq Consisted partly in the exchange of 
Babylonian manufactures, and partly in the purchase of 
products of the farther East. 

143. Weaving of cotton, woolen stuffs, and carpets was 
Babylonian the principal manufacture established in Bab- 
manufactures. yj^jj^ Articles of luxury, such as perfumed 
waters, carved walking-canes, engraved stones and seals, 
were made in the city, and the art of cutting precious stones 
was carried to the utmost perfection. These articles were 
sought by all the civilized nations of antiquity. 

144. The Babylonians had an extensive commerce east- 
Trade routes ward with Persia and Northern India, whence 
from Babylon. ^^^ obtained gold, precious stones, and rich 
dye-stuffs. From Can'dahar and Cashmere they procured 
fine wool, and from the desert of Bactria (the modern Gobi) 
emeralds, jaspers, and other precious stones. The trade by 
sea was between the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, 
and the western coasts of India and the Island of Ceylon. 
From these regions they imported timber of various kinds, 
sugar-cane, spices, cinnamon, and pearls. At a very early 



COMMERCE OF THE ANCIENTS. 



GS 




66 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

period the Babylonians formed commercial establishments 
on the Bahrein \bd-7'dn'\ Islands in the Persian Gulf, whence 
they obtained large quantities of the finest pearls. 

145. The Phoenicians were the leading commercial peo- 
The Phoeni- ple of Asia. Though the textile fabrics of the 
cians. Sidonians and the purple cloths of the Tyrians 
were celebrated from the earliest antiquity, it seems prob- 
able that the commerce of the Phoenicians consisted more 
in the interchange of foreign commodities than in the ex- 
portation of their own goods. 

146. The land trade of the Phoenicians may be divided 

into three great branches : the Arabian, which 

included the Egyptian and that with the Indian 

seas ; the Babylonian, to which is referred the commerce with 

Central Asia and North India ; and the Armenian, including 

the overland trade with Scythia and the Caucasian countries. 

147. From Ye'men (Arabia Felix) caravans brought 
Arabia and the through the dcscrt frankinccnse, myrrh, cassia, 
Levant. gold, and precious stones, — the gold being 
probably obtained from the opposite shores of Africa. 
The greater part of the Phoenician trade with Egypt was 
overland. The first branch of the eastern Phoenician trade 
was with Judaea and Syria proper. The dependence of the 
Phoenicians on Palestine for grain fully explains the cause 
of their close alliance with the Jewish kingdom. 

148. But the most important branch of Phoenician trade 
Eastern trade with the Orient was that through Babylon to 
of Phoenicia. ^^ interior of Asia. A considerable part of 
the route to Babylon lay through the Syrian desert, and to 
facilitate the passage of the caravans two of the most re- 
markable cities of the ancient world, Baal'bec and Palmy'ra, 
were founded. 

149. The Scythian trade may be very fairly considered 

the same, in all important particulars, as that 
cy lan a e. ^j^-^j^ ^^^ exists between Southern Russia and 



COMMERCE OF THE ANCIENTS. 6/ 

Bokha'ra. It was connected with Europe by the Greek 
colonies on the Euxine (Black) Sea. But the most impor- 
tant branch of trade carried on through the Scythian terri- 
tories was the Indian, with which probably we may connect 
the Indo-Chinese. Bactra and Marcanda {Balkh and Samar- 
cand') have always been the depots of an active commerce. 
It is certain that a portion of this trade passed over the 
Caspian Sea ; but it is equally certain that the greater por- 
tion of it was conducted by caravans, which went round the 
north of the Caspian, and perhaps of the Sea of Aral. 

150. The northern land trade of the Phoenicians is de- 
scribed by the Prophet Ezekiel : "Javan (i. e. 

Ionia and the Greek colonies), Tubal, and 
Meshech (i. e. the countries round the Black and the Cas- 
pian Seas), they were thy merchants : they traded the per- 
sons of men and vessels of brass in thy markets. They 
of the house of Togar'mah (i. e. Armenia and Cappadocia) 
traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules." * 

151. The Mediterranean Sea was, however, the great high- 
road of Phoenician commerce. Spain was, in „. . . 

'^ ' PhcEnicians in 

respect to precious metals, the richest country the Mediter- 

r 1 • i-i 11 ^ • ^ ' ranean. 

or the ancient world ; and here this- pushing 
people early formed stations. " Tar'shish (i. e. Tartes'sus, or 
Southwestern Spain) was thy merchant by reason of the 
multitude of all kinds of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and 
lead they traded in thy fairs." t From Spain the Phoenicians 
entered the Atlantic Ocean, and proceeded to the south of 
the British Isles, where they procured the tin of Cornwall, 
and probably to the coast of Prussia, for the greatly es- 
teemed amber. In the eastern seas they had establish- 
ments on the Arabian and the Persian Gulfs, whence they 
traded with the coasts of India and Africa and the Island 
of Ceylon. During the reign of Pharaoh Necho, King of 

* Ezekiel xxvii. 13, 14. 
t Ibid, 12. 



6S ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 

Egypt, they discovered the passage round the Cape of 
Good Hope ; but this led to no important result, on ac- 
count of the calamities that Tyre endured from the con- 
quest by the Babylonians in the 6th century. 

152. The commerce of Carthage was carried on both 

by land and sea. Her own manufactures 
included fine cloths, hardware, pottery, and 
leather harness. The principal land trade of the Cartha- 
ginians was by caravans with the barbarous tribes of Central 
Africa, the chief imports being negro-slaves and gold-dust. 

153. In the western Mediterranean their chief trade was 
Western Med- with the Greek colonies in Sicily and the south 
iterranean. ^f j^^j^ (^^^^ which they obtained wine and 
oil in exchange for negro-slaves, precious stones, and gold, 
and for cotton cloths manufactured at Carthage), and also 
with Spain, the El Dorado of antiquity. In fact, the Car- 
thaginians possessed almost exclusively the carrying trade 
between the nations of Africa and those of Western Europe. 
Beyond the Strait of Gibraltar the Carthaginians succeeded 
the Phoenicians in the tin and amber trade with the British 
Isles and the shores of the Baltic. 

154. On the west coast of Africa the Carthaginian colo- 

nies studded the shores of Morocco and Fez : 

African trade. , , . i -r i i r ^ / ^ 

but their great mart was the Island of Cer ne * 
(now Suana), the principal depot of merchandise, whence 
goods were transported in light barks to the opposite coast. 
Here the Carthaginian exports were trinkets, saddlery, cot- 
ton goods, pottery, and arms, for which they received hides 
and ivory. There is also every reason to believe that these 
enterprising merchants had some intercourse with the coast 
of Guinea, and that their navigators advanced beyond the 
mouths of the Sen'egal and Gambia. 

* Hanno in the year 570 b. c. conducted sixty ships, bearing 30,000 
colonists, to the western shores of Africa, where he planted a chain of 
six colonies between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Island of Cerne. 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. 



69 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. 

Nations treated of. 

« 

We have considered the history of the following ancient Oriental 

nations : — 

' The Egyptians. 
The Assyrians and Babylonians. 
The Hebrews. 
The Phoenicians. 
The Hindoos. 
The Persians. 



Oriental Nations 
OF Antiquity. . . 



II. Classification of Races. 

These nations may be classed in three races, — the Aryan, or 
Indo-European, the Semitic, and the Hamitic, as follows : 

Aryan Race | Hindoos. 

[Persians. 

r Assyrians. 

Semitic Race J Phoenicians. 

L Hebrews, 

Hamitic Race. . . . | Egyptians. 

[Chaldeans (early Babylonians). 

III. Place in History. 

Summing up what we have learned respecting the part played by 
the several ancient Oriental nations, we may mark the follow- 
ing characteristics : — 

Leading representative of the Hamitic stock, — 
developed apart, — were not a conquering or aggres- 
sive race, — had a marvelous building instinct, — at- 
Egyptians • • • \ tained a considerable advancement in many of the 
mechanical arts, and had some knowledge of certain 
sciences, especially astronomy and geometry, — marked 
^ by the stationary character of their civilization. 

r Seem to have been a Hamitic stock allied to the 
rTTATD-^TANS J Egyptians, — had building instincts similar to the 
* ' I Egyptians, — cultivated astronomy with much success, 
I — their civilization of a materialistic character. 



70 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



Assyrians. 



Babylonians. 

[Later kingdom.'^ 



Hindoos 



Hebrews . 



Phcenicians 



Persians , 



Were probably almost pure Semites, — were a con- 
quering race, and became, previous to Persia, the great 
imperial power of Asia, ruling not only all the Meso- 
potamian countries, but also Media, Syria proper, Phoe- 
njftia, Palestine, part of Arabia, and nearly all Egypt, 

— in the fine arts excelled particularly in sculpture. 
As a political power ruled for only the brief period 

of eighty-seven years, from the destruction of the 
Assyrian power to the conquest by the Persians 
under Cyrus (625-538 B.C.), but were for many cen- 
turies, while under Assyrian rule, an important peo- 
ple, — made marked advances in commerce, manufac- 
tures, and the practical arts. 

A nation of pure Aryan stock, but remarkable as a 
thoroughly unworldly race, devoting themselves large- 
ly to contemplation and mystic speculations, — have left 
a rich and remarkable literature written in Sanscrit, 
the oldest, of the Indo-European tongues, — had but 
little influence on the political history of the world, 
and indeed can hardly be said to have a place in his- 
toric annals till the conquest of India by Alexander, 
326 B. c. 

A "peculiar people," playing a peculiar part in his- 
tory, — had very little influence on the political his- 
tory of antiquity, but have affected all the world 
through religion (monotheism), — have left as their 
great legacy the Hebrew Scriptures, — not an artistic 
people, — were a pure Semitic race. 

Like the Hebrews, were Semites, — pre-eminently 
the traders and colonizers of antiquity, — the only 
Asiatic people that planted colonies on the Mediter- 
ranean shores of Europe and Africa, — left a price- 
less legacy in the Phoenician alphabet. 

Were pure Aryans, — made the nearest approach to 
European civilization of any Oriental nation, — had 
the best idea of political organization possessed by 
any Asiatic race, — were a conquering people, and be- 
came the great imperial power in Asia from the time 
of Cyrus to the conquest by Alexander (558-331 B.C.), 

— attained eminence in art, especially architecture 
^ and sculpture. 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. 



71 



IV. Chronologic Summary. 

The following are the most important dates under each nation :•— 



2450 

525 



747 
625 

538 



r Beginning of authentic history in Dynasty of 

jTtjYPT J Pyramid-builders (Fourth), 25th century 

1 Conquered by Persians, 6th century . 

I Conquered by Romans, ist century ... 30 

Chald/ea J First authentic date, 23d century , . . 2234 

L^ar6.^a4y/^«/«-]{ Absorption in Assyria . . . (about) 1250 

Assyria i ^^comes a great power absorbing Babylon (about) 1250 

[ Fall of Nineveh and overthrow of Assyria . 625 

r Era of Nabonassar . . . . 
Babylonia J -^^^^^^^^ of independence under Nabopolassar . 
j Capture of Babylon by Cyrus, and overthrow of 
I Babylonian kingdom 

' Immigration of Brahminic Aryans into the In- 
dus Valley (about) 3000 

. Alexander's expedition into India . . 326 

Migration of Abraham . . . (about) 1920 

Exodus from Egypt 1320 

Accession of Solomon 1015 

Division of Solomon's Empire into the King- 
dom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah . 
Destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by the 

Assyrians, and captivity of the Israelites 
Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar 
Return from the captivity ..... 
. Absorption by Rome 



India. 



Palestine . 



975 

721 

586 

536 

63 



Phcenicia. 



Persia. 



Tyre becomes leading city-state of Phoenicia . 1050 
Phoenicia conquered by the Assyrians . (about) 870 
Foundation of the colony of Carthage . . 850 
Tyre captured by Alexander the Great . . 322 

Phoenicia conquered by the Romans . . 63 

Foundation of the Persian monarchy by Cyrus 558 

Cambyses becomes king 529 

Darius I. (Hystaspes), who organized the Per- 
sian Empire, becomes king . . . .521 

Xerxes becomes king 486 

Overthrow of Persian Empire by Alexander 331 



72 



ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 



V. General Summary. 

The following may serve as a general summing up of the philoso- 
phy of Oriental history : — 
The great feature of all the Oriental nations was their unprogressive 
character. In Asia there came into being a number of vast empires, 
but as these were despotisms, as the social state of the people was 
fixed in castes, and as the people themselves were reduced to a low level 
by polygamy, the power of man could not find free play : hence, though 
the ancient Eastern nations reached a considerable advancement in 
civilization, their civilization was of a stationary character. Asia was 
the land of births and beginnings, and played indeed a wondrous part 
in the history of our race ; but when in the order of Divine Providence 
her appointed task was completed, it was given to other lands and other 
peoples to carry forward the great work of humanity; and we shall find 
that with the Aryan race on the free soil of Europe first comes true 
progress. 





;|^ a s a n 



faleaPi' 



Txna.x*'^'' 












JCARPATH03 
'^CASOS 



:EJ 




?i e s 4. 



HHILILiAi 

OR ^^^ -^ 



AND HER 

Time of the PeZoponnesian War 

^DLiANS colored Tdlow 

lONlANS ' ' Hed 

DORIANS » » Blue 



Russell 4; Struthers.N.Y. 



GENERAL SKETCH, 



73 



SECTION II. 
HISTORY OF GREECE 
CHAPTER I. 
GENERAL SKETCH. 




The Parthenon restored. 

I. We are now to begin the history of the two great 
European nations of antiquity, Greece and contrast of 
Rome, — the history "of the glory that was Eur^o"p?in hL 
Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome." *°''y- 
The story of these nations fills the whole period between 
about the year looo b. c. and the downfall of the Western 
Roman Empire, 476 a. d. Between the history of these na- 
tions and that of the ancient Oriental empires we shall find 
a marked contrast. The Orient presents to view a series 
of vast overshadowing despotisms under which the spirit 



74 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

of individual freedom was completely crushed. That spirit 
first finds play in Europe, where we shall see the rights of 
man asserting themselves and taking embodiment in free, 
self-governing states. The history of the Orient is the his- 
tory of dynasties ; the history of Greece and Rome is the 
history of the people; and accordingly the latter is far more 
interesting, more instructive, and more valuable. 

2. The Greeks were a branch of, the mighty Aryan, or 
Greek race Indo-European, stock, — the stock that includes 
all the historic races of Europe, together with 
the Persians and Hindoos of Asia. As Aryans, they were 
closely related to the Romans ; and, in fact, the forefa- 
thers of the Greeks and of the Italians formed originally 
one swarm, which at a very early period in prehistoric 
times (not later than 2000 b. c.) left the native hive of the 
Aryans, in Asia, and moved into Europe. The evidence of 
language shows that this stock must have kept together for 
a considerable period after they had parted company from 
the other members of the Aryan family, and before they 
settled, the one branch in the eastern and the other in the 
central of the three Mediterranean peninsulas, where they 

MAP STUDY. 

[See Map opposite p. 73.] 

I. What were the boundaries of Continental Greece ? 2. What sea 
between Greece and Italy? 3. What isthmus connects the Pelopon- 
nesus with the mainland? 4. What gulfs on opposite sides of this? 
5. What is the situation of the Pindus range ? 6. They divided what 
states ? 7. Tell the situation of the CEta Mountains, of Olympus, of 
Parnassus. 8. What was the situation of Macedon, of Attica, of Laco- 
nia? 9. Where was the state of Boeotia? 10. Was Attica a seaboard 
or an inland state ? 11. Was Lacedaemon an inland or a seaboard state ? 
12. What rivers are named on the map ? 13. What large island off the . 
east coast? 14. Where were the Cyclades and Sporades? 15. Where 
were the Chersonesus, Cyrenaica, Hellespont, Thrace, Asia Minor? 
16. Where were Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Argos, Delphi, Corinth, Pla- 
taea, Marathon, Miletus, Sardis, the Pass of Thermopylae ? 



GENERAL SKETCH. 



/^ 



subsequently appeared in history, the first branch as Greeks, 
the second as Romans. 

3. Greece was a name almost unknown by the people 
whom we call Greeks, and was never used by 

1 M 1 • T r Hellas. 

them to describe their country. It was first 
adopted by the Romans, from whom it has descended to us. 
The name by which the Greeks always called their country 
is Hel'las. This term, however, included more than is now 
covered by the term Greece ; for it comprised not only the 
adjacent islands, but also numerous patches of settlement 
around the Mediterranean Sea. Hellas, in fact, denoted 
wherever the Helle'7ies^ or Greeks, were settled. 

4. In the geography of Greece there are two important 
facts to be noticed : i. That Hellas is a land Physical fea- 
of islands and peninsulas, deeply perforated t""^^^- 

by bays and inlets of the Mediterranean. This fact is one 
of the main reasons why the Greeks were the earliest civil- 
ized people of Europe, since their situation on the sea-coast 
brought them into contact with those older civilizations 
whose seats were on the eastern shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, and especially with Egypt and Phoenicia. 2. That 
the surface of the country is ridged by numerous mountains, 
which divided Greece into a multitude of small, isolated 
regions. This fact favored the establishment of numerous 
separate and independent states or communities ; and it was 
in these little states that, for the first time in the history of 
the world, political freedom was attained by man. 

5. Greece proper is a peninsula about 250 miles long 
and 180 miles across in its widest part. It Extent 

has an area about the same as that of the 
State of Maine. 

6. The natural division of Greece is into Northern, Cen- 
tral, and Southern. Northern Greece extends ^. . . 

, 1,11- 1 • Divisions. 

from the north boundary line to the point 

where the eastern and western shores are respectively in- 



76 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

dented by the Gulfs of Ma'lis and Ambra'cia, or Ac'tium. 
Central Greece reaches from this point to the Isthmus of 
Corinth. Southern Greece is identical with the Pelopon- 
ne'sus, called in modern geography the More'a. 

7. Northern Greece contained in ancient times two prin- 
Northern di- cipal countrics, Tlics'saly and Epi'rus. To the 
vision. north of these was Macedo'nia, which, though 
ruled by kings of Hellenic blood, was never counted to be 
part of Greece till quite late times. 

8. Central Greece contained eleven states.* The most 

important of these was Attica, which is the 
foreland or peninsula projecting from Boeotia 
to the southeast. Its length was 70 miles, its greatest width 
30 miles. The general character of this region was moun- 
tainous and infertile. In Attica was Athens, the foremost 
city of all Greece. 

9. Southern Greece, or the Peloponnesus, contained 

seven principal states.* The most important 

Peloponnesus. r i i t • • 

of the southern states was Laconia, sometnnes 
called Lacedae'mon, of which the capital and most im- 
portant city was Sparta. 

10. The " isles of Greece " formed a very considerable 
^, and noted part of ancient Hellas. The larsrest 

The isles. . , • , i t-> t / -i 

of the coast islands was ^.uboe'a, 100 miles 
long. Off the west coast was the important island of Cor- 
ey 'ra. Off the southern coast was Crete, 150 miles in length. 
The ^gae'an sea was studded with numerous islands, of 
which the two groups of the Cyc'lades and Spor'ades ex- 
tended in a continuous series, like a set of stepping-stones, 
across from Greece to Asia. 

11. It is probable that various tribes of the Aryan stock 

had penetrated into the Greek peninsula as 
Pelasgi. _ ^ ^ T \^ .. . 

early as 2000 b. c. In the ante-Hellenic pe- 

* Name these states from the map, opposite page 72. 



GENERAL SKETCH. 



77 



riod, that is, in the prehistoric age, we hear of the Pelas'gi, 
who seem to have been an Aryan race. They were civiUzed 
enough to till the earth and to build walled cities. To 
them are attributed the remains of certain ancient monu- 
ments known as Pelasgic, or Cyclopean, remains. These 
consist of tombs and of walls composed of enormous rude 
masses of stone joined to one another without cement. 

12. At a period long before the beginning of recorded 
history the Pelassfi were overwhelmed by an 

. r ■ J n Hellenes. 

invasion of a more vigorous and warlike race, 
the Hellenes, who, descending from Thessaly, entirely over- 
spread the peninsula and gave their name to the whole 
country. There were four chief divisions of the Hellenes, 
— the Do'rians, ^o'lians, Achae'ans, and lo'nians. 




y8 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

The ^olians were spread over Northern Greece and the western coast 
of the Peloponnesus ; the Achasans held the southern and eastern part of 
the Peloponnesus (the Arcadians, a remnant of the older Pelasgic race, 
occupying the center) ; the lonians were confined to a narrow strip of 
country along the northern coast of the Peloponnesus and eastward into 
Attica; the Dorians were to the north, and occupied the southern slope 
of Mount CEta. Such appears to have been the distribution of the races 
in the age represented by the Homeric poems. 

13. The Greeks of this age have no history, in the proper 

sense of the word. The place of this they 
* supplied by a mass of beautiful legends, called 
by themselves myths. These recount the exploits of various 
heroes, and hence this period is called the Heroic Age. It 
is vain to attempt to separate the thread of historic truth 
which there may be in the body of Greek legends : to do so 
is only to " spoil a good poem without making a good his- 
tory." 

14. The last and greatest enterprise of the heroic age 

was the Siep:e of Troy. This was immortalized 

Siege of Troy. Y . . 

by the genius of Homer in his Iliad (from 
Jliiwt, or Troy) ; and recent explorations on the site of Troy 
give reason to believe that the narrative of Homer rests on a 
basis of actual fact. The outline of the story is as follows : 
Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, abused the hospitality of 
Menela'us, king of Sparta, by carrying off his wife Helen, 
the most beautiful woman of the age. At the call of Mene- 
laus all the Grecian princes assembled in arms, elected his 
brother Agamem'non leader of the expedition, and sailed 
across the ^gaean to recover the faithless fair one. Nearly 
all Asia Minor was leagued with Troy, and the most valiant 
Trojan leader was Hector, son of Priam. It was not till the 
tenth year that Troy yielded, and it is with the events of 
this year that the Ihad deals. 

15. Achiries, the bravest and most redoubtable of the 
^^ ^ Greeks, offended by Agamemnon, abstains 

from the war ; and in his absence the Greeks 



GENERAL SKETCH. 79 



are no match for Hector. The Trojans drive them back 
into their camp, and are already setting fire to their sliips 
when Achilles gives his armor to his friend Patro'clus, and 
allows him to charge at the head of the Myrmidons. Patro- 
clus repulses the Trojans from the ships, but the god Apollo 
is against him, and he falls under the spear of Hector. This 
causes Achilles to return into the Grecian camp, and he 
slays Hector in single combat ; but is himself killed by an 
arrow directed by Apollo. Finally, the noblest combatants 
on both sides having fallen, the city is taken by the Greeks, 
through the stratagem of a wooden horse, devised by the 
crafty Ulys'ses. Troy is delivered over to the sword, and its 
glory sinks in ashes."^' 

16. The most faithful reflex of the springtime of the Hel- 
lenic world is preserved to us in the Homeric Homeric 
poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Among the Greece, 
noticeable features of society, as. there depicted, are : i. The 
universality of kingly government. 2. The predominance of 
the tribe or nation over the city, whereas in the historical 
period the city is the state. 3. The existence of a hereditary 
nobility, who form the king's council. 4. The existence of 
an assembly which is convened by the king to receive com- 
munications and witness trials, but not either to advise or 
judge. 5. The absence of polygamy, and the high regard 
in which women are held. 6. Slavery everywhere estab- 
lished and considered to be right. 7. Perpetual wars be- 
tween the various tribes and nations, and the preference of 
the military virtues over all others. 8. Strong religious 
feeling ; belief in polytheism and in fate ; respect for the 
priestly character ; peculiar sanctity of temples and festival 
seasons. 

17. According to the traditions of the Greeks, some im- 
portant y^r^/^;/ elements were received into the Foreign influ- 
nation during this first period. It is said that ^""• 



See note, end of this chapter. 



8o HISTORY OF GREECE. 

both Phoenician and Egyptian settlements were made in 
Greece. Scholars now doubt that any such settlements were 
made ; but it is quite certain that the early Greeks, when 
they began to spread over the Grecian isles, came in con- 
tact with the Phoenicians, who were at this period the most 
commercial and progressive nation inhabiting the shores 
of the Mediterranean. From the Phoenicians the Greeks 
received the alphabet. It is probable, also, that the early 
Greeks drew from the fountains of antique Egyptian lore, 
and that they gained from the Egyptians their first knowl- 
edge of some of the arts and sciences j while the influence 
of the Egyptian religious system can be plainly traced in the 
Greek mythology. 

l8. But, on the whole, Hellenic civilization was of home 
Greek civiiiza- gfowth. Evcu what they took they stamped 
tion original. ^j^|^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ character. Hence the Greek 

people must be considered to have developed for themselves 
that form of civilization, and those ideas on the subject of 
art, politics, morals, and religion, that have given them their 
peculiar reputation. 



Note on Troy. — In the revolutions of time the city of Troy has so 
completely disappeared that many scholars have been disposed to doubt 
even the existence of such a place. But in recent times fresh light seems 
to have been thrown on the subject by the researches of Dr. Schliemann, 
a German savant, who in the years 1869-73 made a series of explorations 
in the Troad, or "plain of windy Troy." He identifies the city of IHum, 
or Troy, with the modern place called Hissarlik. Many interesting 
archaeologic remains were discovered by the explorer, who also states 
his belief that he could identify in the ruins the " house of Priam," the 
Scsean gate, and various other points mentioned by Homer. Many 
scholars are not prepared to accept all the conclusions of Dr. Schlie- 
mann ; but all agree that his discoveries are of great interest, and furnish 
new illustrations of the ** tale of Troy divine." 



BEGINNINGS OF GREEK HISTORY. 



CHAPTER II. 
HISTORY OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 

FROM THE DORIAN MIGRATION TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PERSIAN WARS, 
ijoo-soo B. C. 

I. BEGINNINGS OF GREEK HISTORY. 

19. Grecian history may be divided into three periods : 

1. From the Dorian migration to the begin- Periods of 
ning of the Persian Wars (1100-500 B.C.). G^eek history. 

2. From the beginning of the Persian Wars to the subju- 
gation of Greece by Pliihp of Macedon (500-338 b. c). 

3. From the subjugation of Greece by PhiHp to the Roman 
conquest (338-146 b. c). 

20. Leaving the dim twiUght of legendary Greece, we 
come to a period when there took place those Period of set- 
movements of tribes that finally resulted in element, 
settling the Hellenes in those parts of Hellas in which we 
find them during the times of authentic history. Thus 
there seems to be no doubt that about the year iioo b. c. 
the Dorians, who originally had been an unimportant tribe 
in the small patch of northern territory on the southern 
slope of Mount CEta, began to make a great figure in Greek 
affairs; for moving southward they conquered the Achaean 
kingdoms in the Peloponnesus, took possession of Laconia, 
or Lacedaemon, and gradually subdued most of the neigh- 
boring states. 

21. Out of the Dorian conquest of the Peloponnesus re- 
sulted other great changes in the Hellenic other move- 
world. The Achaeans, expelled from the south ^^^^s. 

and east of the peninsula, fell back upon the northern coast, 
driving out the lonians. The latter found refuge with their 
brethren of the same race in Attica, and the lonians became 



82 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

not only the dominant race in Central Greece, but also 
spread themselves over most of the Cyclades Islands in the 
^gaean Sea. 

22. The planting of Greek colonies in Asia Minor was 
Colonies in another important event of this early period, 
Asia Minor. connected with the general unsettlement result- 
ing from the Dorian conquest. These colonies were made 
by the three races, the ^Eolians, lonians, and Dorians. The 
Cohans established themselves along the coast of Mysia 
and in the Island of Les'bos, where they formed a confedera- 
tion of twelve cities (^^olis). The lonians established 
themselves on the shores of Lydia, and on the islands of 
Chi'os and Sa'mos (lo'nia), and grew into a very powerful 
confederation. The Dorian colonies were planted in the 
southwestern corner of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands 
(Do'ris) ; but they were of less importance than the yEolian, 
and especially the Ionian, settlements, which became of 
great note in Grecian history. 

23. Other settlements were made by the Greeks, of which 
Other settle- the most notable were those on the coasts of 
ments. Thracc and Macedonia, on the islands west 
of Greece, in Sicily, in Lower Italy (hence called Mag'na 
Grae'cia, or Great Greece),"* and in the territory of Cyre'ne, 
or the Cyrena'ica, along the northern coast of Africa. Some 
outposts of Hellenic settlement were planted as far east as 
the shores of the Euxine Sea, and one colony arose in the 
extreme western part of the Mediterranean at Massilia, now 
Marseilles. 

24. The establishment of so many colonies in countries 
Effect of coio- pre-eminently favored by nature in productions 
"^^^' and climate, and so situated as to prompt the 
inhabitants to navigation and commerce, gave a great im- 
pulse to the civilization of the Hellenic race, and may be 
regarded as the main cause of its rapid progress. 

* See map opposite page 72. 



BEGINNINGS OF GREEK HISTORY. 



83 



25. The accompanying map represents the distribution 
of the several representatives of the Hellenic 
race, at the time when the great movements 
of population just spoken of had been accomplished (say 
about 1000 B. c). 




DISTRIBUTION t 

OF RACES, '^, 

AFTER 

THEIR MIGRATION. 



26. At this time the two leading races of Greece were 
the lonians and the Dorians. These were dis- r-. 4. «• 

Character of 

tinguished from each other by striking charac- the two lead- 
teri sties, and the difference between them 
forms a chief feature of Grecian politics ; it runs through 
their entire history, and was the principal cause of the deep- 
rooted antagonism between Athens, the representative of 
the Ionian race, and Sparta, the leading Doric state. The 
lonians were- remarkable for their democratic spirit j they 



84 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

were vivacious, fickle, given to commerce, fond of refined 
enjoyments, and devoted to the fine arts. The Dorian race 
was noted for the severe simpUcity of its manners ; it pre- 
ferred an aristocratic form of government, and maintained 
slavery in its worst form. 

27. The authentic history of Greece commences with the 
Beginnings of epoch kuown as the First Olym'piad, b. c. 776. 
real history. ^j^jg ^^^ jg ^^ commencement of that consec- 
utive chronology, which the Greeks reckoned by the series 
of victors in the foot-race at the four-yearly festival of 
Olympian Jupiter near E'lis. The First Olympiad began in 
the midsummer of 776 b. c. ; the Second Olympiad in mid- 
summer of 772 B. c, etc., — the Olympiads recurring every 
four years. 

28. Looking at Greece at this period, — say the middle of 
Political the 8th century b. c, — we find that an impor- 
change. ^^j^^ change in the nature of the government 
had taken place. During the heroic age, in that " youth of 
the world " which Homer paints, the various Grecian tribes 
were under kings ; but now the government had become 
republican, and we find the people gathered together in 
little free states. (Sparta was the only state that held 
to even the name of king.) Each city, in fact, formed an 
independent commonwealth v\^ith its own little territory; 
and there is no doubt that this parceling out of a small 
country was a main cause of the rapid development of 
political science in Greece. 

29. Divided as the Greeks were politically, they were, 
,^ „ . . nevertheless, united by a certain national feel- 

Hellenic unity. . ,_,, . , . , 

mg. The root of this was the consciousness 
that they were all Hellenes ; and this sentiment was fostered 
by the possession of a common language, literature, and re- 
ligion, and of rites, temples, and festivals that were equally 
open to all. Still, the first feeling of every Greek was for 
his city, and there was scarcely even the sentiment of patri- 



SPARTA AND ATHENS. 85 



ctism for Greece as a land. We shall soon see how imper- 
fect was the union even against the pressing danger of 
subjugation by Persia, and what a long series of sectional 
contests was carried on between the leading states. The 
Greeks in the end discovered the great principle of Federal 
Union ; but this was not till near the close of their history, 
when it was too late. 



2. GROWTH OF SPARTA AND ATHENS. 

30. In this section we shall glance at the history of the 
two most important Grecian states, namely, subject 
Sparta and Athens ; and we shall trace their treated, 
history down to the period when all Greece united against 
the Persians, about 500 b. c. 

31. At the commencement of authentic Grecian history 
we find the Spartans the dominant power in 

the Peloponnesus. They were a part of that 

great Dorian wave that about 11 00 b. c. had overflowed the 

southern peninsula of Greece : the Dorians established and 

settled three states, Argos, Messenia, and Laconia, or Lace- 

dsemon ; but in time the Spartans, that is, the people of 

Laconia, or Lacedaemon, gained supremacy over the other 

states. 

32. The ascendency which Sparta acquired over the oth- 
er states of the Peloponnesus was mainly ow- 

1 ,. . . . , . - •;. . Lycurgus. 

mg to her peculiar mstitutions, which tradition 
ascribes to a legislator named Lycur'gus. Of this person- 
age nothing is known whatever, and some have even denied 
his existence. It is probable, however, that Lycurgus did exist 
somewhere about 850 b. c, that is, about a century before 
the beginning of reliable history, and that he more clearly 
defined and fixed already existing usages and regulations. 

33. But the peculiar constitution of the Spartans arose 
necessarily out of the circumstances in which they lived. 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



In other parts of the Peloponnesus the Dorian conquerors 
gradually fused with the native Achaeans, but 

Cause of Spar- ? _ f , . . . , 

tan peculiar!- in Lacedaemon the separation was maintained. 
Such of the Achaeans as readily submitted were 
allowed to retain their personal freedom, though without 
any political rights ; but the greater part were reduced to 
servitude, and were known as Helots. The citizens of 
Sparta were thus a small class of lords (estimated at 9,000 
in the time of Lycurgus) among a tenfold number of slaves 
and subjects ; and to keep these in subjection their whole 
training was military. 

34. The chief object of the legislation that goes by the 
Object of Ly- name of Lycurgan was to create and maintain 
curgus's laws. ^ vigorous and uncorrupted race of men; 
hence it concerned itself less with political arrangements 
than with the regulation of private life and with physical 
education. 

35. By this system weakly children were exposed to per- 
Spartanedu- ish, while of those who were allowed to live 
cation. ^i^g males were at the age of seven separated 
from their homes and trained by state educators. The 
whole time of the Spartans was spent in public. They 
took their frugal meals at public tables in messes or com- 
panies, to which each contributed so much from the prod- 
uce of his land. Great attention was devoted to gym- 
nastic exercises and military drill ; for the education of a 
Spartan, beginning with his seventh year, was not relaxed 
till his sixtieth. He was inured to hunger and thirst and 
to the extremes of heat and cold, and was taught to endure 
the keenest bodily torture without complaint. To teach 
him strategy and secrecy, there were licensed expeditions 
for thieving, and severe punishment was inflicted on him 
who allowed himself . to be detected in it. Every one has 
heard of the Spartan youth who hid the stolen fox under 
his coat, and allowed it to tear out his vitals rather than 



SPARTA AArn ATHENS. 8/ 

expose it to view. Girls were trained in athletic exercises 
nearly similar to those of the boys, but separately. This 
reared a race of vigorous women, the influence of whose pa- 
triotism in sustaining that of the men is matter of historic 
celebrity. " Return either with your shield or on it ! " was 
the exhortation of a Spartan mother to her son on his de- 
parture for the field of battle. 

36. Spartan education produced warriors, but naught 
else : that people contributed nothinpf to the 

. Its results. 

literature and the arts for which the world is 
indebted to Greece. Oratory was held in special contempt, 
and philosophy was superseded by those " wise saws," the 
brevity of which we still describe as laconic. Commerce was 
forbidden to the Spartan citizens, and iron money alone was 
allowed for their few trading transactions. The fine arts 
were discouraged as leading to effeminacy. The labors 
of agriculture were carried on exclusively by the Helots. 
Thus the Spartans resided in the city, where they passed 
their lives according to the Lycurgan discipline, while all 
the ordinary pursuits of civilized life were left to their de- 
pendents. This discipline no doubt made them intrepid 
soldiers, but as a people they were stolid, ungenerous, and 
cruel, even for those cruel times. 

37. The constitution of Sparta was peculiar. At the 
head of the state were two joint-kings, who constitution 
commanded the armies and performed the of Sparta, 
public sacrifices. But their power was often merely nom- 
inal, and was always restricted by the Senate and by the 
Assembly of all the Spartans. The Assembly annually 
elected five officers called Ephors, who as a general thing 
exercised all power ; so that Sparta was really an oligarchic 
Republic, under the guise of a monarchy. 

38. Sparta under the Lycurgan system became an ag- 
gressive military state : she conquered the Mes- spartan con- 
senians (in two wars, 743-724 and 685-668 i^^^^^- 



88 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

B. c), humbled her powerful rival, the Argives (547 b. c), 
and thus raised herself to the leadership of the Dorian 
Commonwealths. Having become the controlling power of 
the Peloponnesus, Sparta in the 6th century b. c. began to 
assume the right of interference in the internal affairs of 
the Grecian states beyond the Peloponnesus, and it is prob- 
able that she would have eventually brought all the states 
under her sway (for they were then in no condition to dis- 
pute her pre-eminence), had it not been that, at the time at 
which we have arrived, all the states were called upon to 
unite their arms against the aggressions of the Persians. 

39. Parallel with the rise of Sparta was the growth of 

another state that was destined not only to 
push democratic freedom farther than any other 

Grecian state, but also to assert an intellectual supremacy 

over all Greece. This was Athens : — 

" Athens, the eye of Greece, m®ther of arts 
And eloquence, native to famous wits." 

40. It is known that the Athenians belonged to the 

Ionian race, of which indeed they were the 
flower. The founding of Athens runs back 
into the mythic period. At first the Athenians, like the 
other Hellenes, were under kings, but by the time that reli- 
able Athenian history begins, we find that Athens had 
ceased to be under regal rule, Codrus being the last of the 
kings. 

41. Athenian affairs, however, were not at this time 
Nature of the managed by all the people, but only by a 
government, privileged class of nobles. Thus, though a 
republic, Athens was not at this time a democracy. The 
kingly power had given place to the office of archon : this 
was at first limited to the royal family and held for life ; 
then it was held for ten years, and finally thrown open to 
the whole body of the nobles, the number of archons in- 



SPARTA AND ATHENS. 



creased to nine, and the period of office reduced to one 
3^ear. There was also a Senate, afterwards called the 
Areopagus, but it was made up exclusively of the nobles. 
Thus we see that the great mass of the people had no share 
whatever in the government; and it happened at Athens, 
as generally happens where power is confined to one class, 
that the oligarchy abused their privileges. 

42. The discontent of the people at length became so 
serious that a statesman named Dra'co was ap- 

, . ^ , . \ Laws of Draco. 

pomted in 624 b. c. to draw up a written code 
of laws. They were marked by extreme severity; for he 
affixed the penalty of death to all crimes alike, — to petty 
thefts no less than to sacrilege and murder. Hence Dra- 
co's laws were said to have been written, not in ink, but in 
blood ; and we are told that he justified this extreme hard- 
ship by saying "that small offenses deserved death, and 
that he knew no severer punishment for great ones." * 

43. The legislation of Draco failed to calm the prevail- 
ing discontent, the overbearinsr conduct of the 

. , , , , , , , Revolution. 

aristocracy led to popular outbreaks, and there 
came a state of anarchy, from which, at the beginning of the 
6th century b. c, Athens was rescued by Solon. Solon had 
been chosen one of the archons, and was commissioned to 
remodel the Constitution of Athens, 594 b. c. The success- 
ful manner in which he performed this work laid the founda- 
tion of the happiness of his native country. 

44. The main object of the constitution of Solon was to 
abolish the oppressive aristocracy and to sub- , ,„ , 

- . 1 . T Laws of Solon. 

stitute for It a moderate government, which 
should admit all Athenian citizens to a share of power, 
but give a preponderating influence to the higher orders. 
Solon's legislation was marked by great political sagacity, 
and under it Athens made rapid progress in prosperity; 

* Smith's History of Greece. 



90 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

but it was far from satisfying his contemporaries. Like 
most moderate politicians, he was accused by one side of 
going too far and by the other of not being radical enough. 

45. The result was a struggle of parties, which ended in 

the seizure of power by a leader named Pisis^- 
Pisistratus. ^ ^ 1 / / n , , 

tratus, who (560 b. c.) assumed the position of 
Dictator, or, as the Greeks called it, Tyrant, — a term 
which, however, denoted merely one who usurped power, not 
necessarily one who ahcsed power. There is no reason to 
believe that the constitution of Solon was abolished under 
Pisistratus. Athens continued to enjoy its republican gov- 
ernment, though under a dictator. Pisistratus ruled mildly, 
encouraged the arts and edited Homer, and even succeeded 
in transmitting his power to his sons; but after half a 
century of this mild tyranny, the family of the Pisistrat'idae 
were banished, 510 b. c. 

46. A noble named Clis'thenes now rose into power. He 
Reforms of espouscd the cause of the people, gave the 
ciisthenes. suffrage to all free inhabitants, and introduced 
into the constitution political reforms to which very much 
of Athenian greatness is attributable. Under the new con- 
stitution the state was a pure democracy, and the establish- 
ment of liberty and equality gave a great impulse to the 
spirit of patriotism. The result was that Athens soon rose 
to be the leading state of Central Greece. 

47. At the period at which we have now arrived, — the 
The new beginning of the 5 th century b. c, — Greece 
epoch. had put on the shape which she was to wear 
during the greatest times of her history. At this time a 
new era in Hellenic history begins. The Greeks had to 
bear the trial of a great foreign invasion. Europe, em- 
bodied in Greece, was to meet old Asia, represented by 
Persia, and the sons of Hellas were to come out of the 
struggle strong and ennobled. 



PERSIAN INVASIONS. 91 



CHAPTER III. 

HISTORY OF THE SECOND PERIOD. 

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE PERSIAN WAR TO THE VICTOR Y OF PHILIP 
OF MACEDON AT CHyERONEA, B. C. soo-jjS. 

I. THE PERSIAN INVASIONS. 

48. We have already seen how the great Eastern Mon- 
archy, founded by Cyrus and extended by Relations with 
Cambyses, was consoUdated by Darius, who ^^^^1^- 
became king of Persia in 521 b. c. Among the conquests 
of Cyrus was the kingdom of Lydia, in Asia Minor. Now, 
just before the Persian conquest of Lydia, the king of that 
country, Crcesus, had succeeded in reducing under his own 
dominion the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor; 
so that now they, too, became subject to Persia. 

49. The Ionian cities did not submit without a struggle, 
and after a certain time there ensued a sreneral 

1 r 1 • • mi « 1 • Ionian revolt. 

revolt of these cities, 500 b. c. The Athenians, 
to help their kinsfolk in Ionia, sent twenty ships with a 
small force. A landing was made on the coast of Asia 
Minor, and Sardis, the capital of Lydia, was captured and 
accidentally burnt, 499 b. c. 

50. This sally had only the effect of drawing down the 
wrath of Darius on the Ionian cities, and the Effect on Da- 
revolt was soon quelled (494 b. c). The Per- ''^"^• 

sian monarch then resolved to chastise the Athenians. 
When the news of the burning of Sardis was brought to 
Darius, he called for his bow, and shot an arrow towards 
the sky, with a prayer to Auramazda for help to revenge 
himself on the Athenians. Then he bade one of his ser- 
vants repeat to him thrice daily, as he sat down to dinner, 
the words, " Master, remember the Athenians ! " 



92 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



51. In execution of his purpose, Darius instructed his 
First hostile son-in-law, Mardo'nius, to march an army 
movement. against the Athenians. The force advanced 
through Thrace into Macedonia, which was speedily subju- 
gated, but it was able to go no farther ; and a fleet which 
had been sent to co-operate was shattered by a great storm 
off the peninsula of Mount A'thos, so that Mardonius re- 
turned to Asia Minor in disgrace, 4.92 b. c. 

52. This failure only added fury to the resolution of 
New prepara- Darius. While pushing forward his prepara- 
^^°"^- tions for the invasion of Greece, he sent round 
heralds to the chief Grecian cities to demand the tribute of 
earth and water as signs of his being their rightful lord. 
The island states generally made their submission, as did 







INVASIONS ofGREKE. "^ ^ %^ 



COURscs or OA/fius' fL£:£r^_ 

f!OUT£ OF XSffXSS'A ffM V 

Courses or yr/?xrs' F'lre-r.^ 

^ COU/!SES OF rffF G/fFFK FiEET.. 




PERSIAN INVASIONS. 



93 



also many of the continental states, and it seemed that the 
young civilization of the West was to be overwhelmed by 
Eastern despotism. But the genius of Hellas found noble 
champions in two of the states ; for Athens and Sparta 
indignantly rejected the demand, and their conjunction 
drew after them most of the lesser states in a defensive 
league. 

53. It was time for Greece to be united, for in the spring 
of 490 B. c. the preparations of Darius were invasion of 
complete. A vast force, under a commander Greece, 
named Datis, sailed in 600 triremes from Samos across the 
^gaean, reducing the Cyclades islands on the way, and after 
capturing Eretria in the island of Euboea, made a landing 
in the bay of Marathon, on the east coast of Attica. The 
Persians now prepared to advance on Athens. 

54. But this was not to be without a struggle, and the 
plain of Marathon was the scene of the con- 

7,. -. , . , Marathon. 

nict, one of the most important and momen- 
tous in history. There, be- 
tween the mountains and the 
sea, the little Athenian force 
of 10,000 men, unaided save 
by 600 men from Platse'a, but 
led by the genius of Mil- 
ti'ades and inspired by high 
patriotic daring, met a Per- 
sian army of ten times its number, and defeated it, — 
September, 490 b. c. 

55. The Persian monarch was not able immediately to 
renew hostilities with the Greeks, for other 
affairs engaged his attention ; and when Darius 
finally found himself free to resume his purpose, he was cut 
off by death, 485 b. c. His son Xerxes succeeded to the 
throne, and promptly took up the task. The result was 
another and far more formidable invasion, made ten years 
after the battle of Marathon. 



MARATHON'V 
&ATHENSi: 




The sequel. 



94 HISTORY OF GREECE. 



56. During this interval of ten years the Athenians were 
Affairs at Ath not idle. At this time the leading men at 

Affairs at Atn- 1 a • ^v i 

ens. Athens were Themis'tocles and Aristi'des. 

Aristides was a pure patriot, but he was considered stub- 
born and impracticable. Themistocles, on the other hand, 
was a sagacious statesman: he urged that the Athenians 
should bend their energies to preparing against a renewal 
of the invasion by the Persians^ and especially that a navy 
should be created; Aristides opposed this policy. Be- 
tween these two leaders there was a long rivalry; but 
finally Aristides was ostracized.* Under the vigorous coun- 
sels of Themistocles, the Athenians bent their energies to 
preparing for the impending conflict, and especially to 
building a great fleet of triremes. Then, as the note of 
preparation for the invasion sounded throughout all Asia, 
a general congress of the Grecian states summoned by 
Athens and Sparta was held at the Isthmus of Corinth. 
Though several of the states stayed away through fear, 
yet this was a truly national meeting; and it was re- 
solved that Sparta should be the head of the league against 
Persia. 

* The institution of ostracisjn was a method which the Athenians had 
devised for the purpose of getting rid of obnoxious public men, and 
was in some respects a very good plan, as it stopped interminable quar- 
rels between rival politicians. It derived its name from the fact that 
the citizens, in voting for its infliction, wrote the name of the objection- 
able person on a shell {ostreon), and if there was a majority of votes 
for his banishment, he was exiled for ten years. The conflict between 
Aristides and Themistocles became at last so sharp that the Athenians 
finally voted to ostracize Aristides. Among those who voted were many, 
no doubt, whose hostility had been aroused by the stern prol)ity of Aris- 
tides, who was known as '' the Just." The story is true to nature, that 
when the vote of ostracism was being taken, an unlettered citizen, not 
knowing Aristides, asked him to write for him on the shell. " And 
what name shall I write ? " " Aristides." " And, pray, what wrong has 
Aristides done you ? " " O, none ; but I am tired of always hearing 
him called the Just." 



PERSIAN INVASIONS. 95 

57. From every part of his wide dominion Xerxes collect- 
ed at Sardis an army such as had never been Beginning of 
seen before. For transporting it into Europe «ion. 

he caused a double bridge of boats to be built across the 
Hellespont, where it is a mile wide ; and in 480 b. c. the 
vast host (Herodotus puts it at 2,500,000 fighting men 
and ships' crews) crossed the bridge in two columns, taking 
seven days and nights to make the passage. A great fleet 
consisting of 1200 triremes (each manned by 200 rowers 
and 30 fighting men) and many smaller vessels pursued its 
course northward to the Hellespont, and then steered west- 
ward, keeping close to the coast so as to be in constant 
communication with the army. Meanwhile the prodigious 
array, having entered Europe, advanced westward through 
Thrace and Macedonia, and then turning southward through 
Thessaly, poured itself in a mighty deluge over the north- 
ern states of Greece and moved towards Attica. 

58. The Greeks resolved to take their stand in a narrow 
mountain-gorsre lying between the precipitous 

. ' c rx-i ^ 1 r • .u Continuation. 

mountauis of CEta and a marsh formmg the 
edge of the Gulf of Mahs. [See large map, p. 73.] This is 
the celebrated Pass of Thermop'ylae.* It was, however, only 
a small force that was sent to the defense of Theniiopylae. 
When the arrival of Xerxes in Northern Greece became 
known, the Greeks were upon the point of celebrating one 
of their religious festivals, and not wishing to give up the 
solemnity, they resolved to send merely men enough to 
hold the pass till the festival was over, when they would 
be able to march in full force. The defense of the po- 
sition was intrusted to the Spartan king, Leonidas, with 
about 7,000 troops, the flower of which consisted of 300 
Spartans. 

* Literally, gates of the hot springs: the pass contains several hot 
springs, and thepy/iz, or gates, are the two openings of the pass. 



96 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 




59, When the Persian host reached Thermopylae and 
Battle of Ther- sought to force the pass, the Grecian guard 
mopyiffi. made a stout defense, and for two days kept 
the enemy at bay ; but on the third day a traitor pointed 
out to the Persian king how, by taking a mountain-path, 
the position of the Greeks might be "turned." When this 
movement became known, most of the Greek officers wished 

to withdraw, since the 
position was no longer 
tenable. But Leonidas 
refused to retreat. As 
a Spartan he was bound 
by the laws to conquer 
or to die in the post 
assigned to him. His 
three hundred Spartans were moved by the same feeling, 
and seven hundred Thespians resolved to share their 
fate. The rest of the allies were allowed to retire. This 
being done, Leonidas and his comrades determined to 
sell their lives as dearly as possible: so they advanced 
into the open space in front of the pass and charged the 
Persians with desperate valor. But this heroism was in 
vain ; for their spears were erelong broken, and the enemy, 
pouring in from front and rear, surrounded the Greeks on 
all sides. Leonidas fell, and the heroic band were killed 
to a man. The date of the battle was August, 480 b. c. 

60. The Greek fleet, as we have seen, had taken position 
off the northern coast of the Island of Eubcea. 
Here a brisk naval action was fought, which, 

though indecisive, helped to raise the courage of the Greeks. 
It seemed, too, as though the gods were on their side, for in 
two great storms nearly half the Persian fleet was shattered. 
When, however, it became known to Themistocles, the com- 
mander of the Grecian fleet, that the Pass of Thermopylae 
had been carried and that the enemy was advancing on 



Naval affairs. 



PERSIAN INVASIONS. 9/ 

Athens, he withdrew the fleet southward to the Bay of 
Sal'amis, near Athens. 

61. The news of the approach of Xerxes created great 
consternation at Athens ; but the oracle told Matters at 
the Athenians that they must seek safety in Athens, 
their "wooden walls." This was interpreted to mean their 
ships. Accordingly the whole population was removed from 
the city, and the Persians took possession of Athens and 
reduced it to ashes. 

62. The fate of Greece was to be decided by a glorious 
naval combat. In the Bay of Salamis the Battle of Saia- 
Greeks had assembled their whole fleet of 366 °^^^- 

ships. Though the Persians had lost heavily by storm, 
they had still about 1000 vessels, and two months after the 
battle of Thermopylae the opposing fleets were arrayed 
for the fight. The Persian army was drawn up along the 
shore, and the Eastern monarch, anticipating a brilliant 
victory, took his seat on a lofty throne, on a promontory 
overlooking the scene. 

" A king sat on the rocky brow 
"Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis ; 
And ships by thousands lay below, 
And men in nations, — all were his. 
He counted them at break of day. 
And when the sun set, where were they ? '* 

63. Salamis was a complete victory for the Greeks ; the 
Persians lost over 200 ships, and Xerxes, 

struck with cowardice, beat a retreat into his ^^^"^*- 
own dominions by the route on which he came, October, 
480 B. c. 

64. When Xerxes retired he left behind a force of 
300,000 under one of his generals, named Mar- piatsea and 
donius. The following year a decisive combat, Mycaie. 

in which the Greeks were completely successful, was fought 
at Plataea between this force and a Greek army of 70,000 



98 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

men under the Spartan leader Pausanias and the Athenian 
leader Aristides, September 25, 479. On the same day a 
battle at Myc'ale (in Asia Minor) effected the destruction of 
the remnant of the Persian fleet. 

65. These three battles, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale, de- 
cided the war, and the Persians never again 
dared to invade Greece itself. The struggle, 
it is true, went on for several years longer before the Per- 
sians were dislodged from the various posts which they held 
north of the yEgaean ; but at last they were driven wholly 
out of Europe. Thus it was that the liberties of Greece 
were secured, and it must be remembered that the preser- 
vation of Grecian independence meant the preservation of 
the civilization of Europe. 



2. THE AGE OF PERICLES. 

66. The half-century following the battle of Salamis 
Period of Peri- (4^0 " 43° B- c.) forms the most brilliant period 
^^^^- of Athenian history, and one of the most illus- 
trious eras in the history of the world. It is usually called 
the " age of Pericles," its duration nearly coinciding with 
the public life of that statesman who for forty years, though 
merely a private citizen, held a controlling influence over 
the politics of Athens. 

67. The main cause of the ascendency which Athens now 
Policy of Ath- assumed was the brilliant part played by that 
^"^- state in the Persian wars. To preserve the 
freedom of the now liberated Greek cities on the islands 
and coasts of the yEgsean, a league was formed of which 
Athens, from her naval power, became naturally the leader. 
The inland states meanwhile clung to Sparta. It soon came 
about that the maritime cities were brought into a sort of 
subjection to Athens ; the Athenians denied the right of the 
states to secede from the confederation, caused the separate 



AGE OF PERICLES. 99 

treasury of the league to be merged in that of Athens, and 
employed the ships and money of the allies in prosecuting 
their own aggrandizement. If this was short-sighted pol- 
icy, it at least put the Athenians in an almost imperial po- 
sition for the time being, and carried forward the little 
democracy to a wonderful degree of power and splendor. 

68. It was during this period, when the Athenian intel- 
lect was stimulated by a proud sense of na- sketch of the 
tional greatness, that Grecian genius put forth pe"od. 

its richest blossoms of literature and art. This was the age 
of grand dramatic composition, and of the greatest works 
of architecture and sculpture. Oratory, which is so power- 
ful an instrument in a free state, was now cultivated assidu- 
ously, and the Athenians became accustomed to hearing the 
purest lessons of patriotism put forth in the loftiest forms 
of eloquence. In fine, the Athenian commonwealth under 
the exertions of Pericles attained such an exalted state of 
cultivation that it is recorded that the citizens were almost 
all equally qualified to fill ofiices or discharge business ; so 
that the regulation, that the greater part of the public offices 
should be filled by lot, rarely resulted in the choice of any 
but able and well-qualified men. 

69. It was in this age that, on the other hand, the seeds 
were sown of that terrible civil strife that rent Beginning of 
the glory of Greece ; for Pericles himself lived ^^"^^• 

to see the outbreak of that direful conflict known as the 
Peloponnesian War. 

70. This great man, one of the very ablest statesmen 
that ever lived, fell a victim to a pestilence pgj.j^jg3 
that raged in Athens in 429 b. c. His death- 
bed v/as surrounded by his friends and admirers, who recit- 
ed the many illustrious exploits of his glorious life. " You 
forget," said the dying patriot, — " you forget the only valua- 
ble part of my character : none of my fellow-citizens was 
ever compelled by any action of mine to assume a mourn- 
ing robe." 



100 HISTORY OF GREECE. 



3. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 

71. The Peloponnesian war was a conflict between 
Duration of Athens and her alHes, on the one hand, and 
the war. Sparta and her aUies, on the other. It began 
in 43 1 B. c, lasted twenty-seven years, and ended in weak- 
ening Greece generally, and in completely destroying the 
Athenian ascendency. 

72. This war was occasioned by the jealousy which the 
Cause of the g^at powcr of Athens stirred up among many 
war. other of the Greek cities ; but it had in reality 
a deeper cause : it was the outbreak of an " irrepressible 
conflict " between lonians and Dorians, between democracy 
and oligarchy, — Athens being the chief of the Ionian and 
democratic states, and Sparta the chief of the Dorian and 
aristocratic states. 

73. The immediate occasion of the war was a conflict 

between Corinth and one of her colonies, 
en years, q^^^^i^^^ Siding witli the latter, Athens ex- 
cited the wrath of the Dorian Confederacy ; and a Spartan 
army invaded Attica, 43 1 b. c. During the first ten years 
of the war, down to 421, the two parties contended with 
nearly equal success, the Athenians being much the stronger 
by sea, and the Spartans and their allies by land. A peace 
was then concluded, called the " Peace of Nicias " (42 1 b. c), 
which was to last for fifty years; but as many of the 
confederates were dissatisfied with its terms, it was not 
likely to be of such long duration, and indeed hostilities 
were renewed almost immediately. 

74. The renewal of the war was precipitated through 

the political influence of Alcibi'ades, a hand- 

Alcibiades. t i ,. . , , ' 

some, dissolute young disciple of Socrates: 
he possessed brilliant talent, but he was ambitious, and he 
was eager to renew the war, as affording him an opportunity 
of personal distinction. 



SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACY. lOI 

75. Alcibiades brought forward a scheme of conquering 
Syracuse, a city in Sicily. It was a bold syracusan ex- 
scheme, and its successful execution would p^dition. 
have given a great preponderance to Athens over Sparta. 
The Athenians adopted the plan, and in b. c. 415 sent a 
fleet and force against the Syracusans. Sparta sent aid 
to the Syracusans, and thus the Peloponnesian war was 
renewed. In the midst of the enterprise Alcibiades was 
recalled to Athens on a charge of impiety ; but he managed 
to escape, and went over to Sparta. The Syracusan expe- 
dition proved a total failure (413 b. c), and greatly damaged 
the power of Athens. 

76. During the last eight years the Peloponnesian war 
was carried on mainly at sea, off the coast of 

Asia. Sparta allied herself with Persia, and °^^"^ ^^^"' 
it was Persian gold that afforded Sparta the means to 
continue the contest against Athens. Athens, however, 
made a bold front, and under the lead of Alcibiades (who 
had meanwhile been recalled to the command) kept up the 
contest with wonderful vigor. But a fatal blow fell when the 
Spartan admiral, Lysander, surprised the beached galleys 
of the Athenians at ^gos Pot'amos in the Hellespont, b. c. 
405. The siege and surrender of Athens in the following 
year brought the great Peloponnesian contest to an end. 

77. The result of the Peloponnesian war left Sparta the 
greatest power of Greece. Athens sank into Result of the 
the background as a second-rate state ; still, ^^^• 

while she lost her poUtical supremacy, she became more 
and more the leader in literature, art, and philosophy. 

4. PERIOD OF SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACY. 

78. After the decline of Athens Sparta stood without a 
rival in Greece, and for thirty-four years (from spartan su- 
the victory at ^Egos Potamos to the defeat of premacy. 



I02 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

Leuctra, 405-371 B.C.) the Lacedsemonians exercised an 
undisputed sway in Greece. The Spartan dominion was 
extremely despotic, and the Greek states that at the begin- 
ning of the Peloponnesian war had sided with Sparta as 
a " hberator " from Athenian rule now found the Spartan 
yoke much more galling than the Athenian had been. 

79. Meantime in Thebes a new power was arising 

Rise of Thebes ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ pride. The greatness of 
' Thebes was the work of two men, — Epami- 
non'das and Pelop'idas, — who knew how to inspire their 
fellow-citizens with their own heroic spirit. To revenge 
themselves for the insults of Sparta, the Thebans, under 
these leaders, began a long and heroic struggle. The de- 
cisive combat of this war was fought at LeuCtra, where 
Epaminondas utterly defeated the Spartans, 371 b. c. In 
consequence of this defeat Sparta fell suddenly and forever 
from her high estate. 

80. Thebes now rose to be the leading state of Greece, 
Theban su- 3.nd this position she held as long as her great 
premacy. chieftain, Epaminondas, lived. But in the bat- 
tle of Mantine'a (362 b. c), waged against the Spartans and 
Athenians, the Theban chieftain died in the arms of victory. 
With the fall of Epaminondas Thebes herself fell, for there 
was no one to take his place. 

81. The struggle between Sparta and Thebes, following 
Effect of the ^s it did the great Peloponnesian war, — in 
^^"- both of which nearly all the Hellenic states 
were engaged, — resulted in the general exhaustion of 
Greece. What strength remained was expended in mere 
intestine broils, and soon after this Greece fell an easy prey 
to Philip of Macedon, 



SUPREMACY OF MACEDON. IO3 



CHAPTER IV. 
HISTORY OF THE THIRD PERIOD. 

FROM THE VICTORY OF PHILIP TO THE ABSORPTION OF GREECE BY THE 

ROMANS. 

I. SUPREMACY OF MACEDON. — PHILIP. 

82. The Macedonians, though closely allied by race 
to the Greeks, had remained in obscurity while Early Mace- 
their southern kinsmen were pursuing their ^°"' 
stirring career. But in the middle of the 4th century b. c. 
they came under a bold and energetic chief. This was 
Philip, son of Amyntas II. 

83. Philip assumed the government of Macedonia in 
-ii^Q B. c. He was well acquainted with Grecian 

^%. , . ^ • 1 1 . Philip's plans. 

politics, having as a young man resided at 
Thebes in the character of a hostage, and when he became 
king he set on foot a plan for the elevation of Macedonia. 
This was not by any means to conquer Greece, but to have 
Macedonia recognized as a Greek state, and then to make 
it the leading state of Hellas, — just as Athens, Sparta, and 
Thebes had successively been. 

84. Philip commenced by craftily mixing himself up with 
Greek aifairs ; and he managed with such skill Doings of 
that at last he was acknowledged as a member ^^i^^P- 

of the Amphic'tyonic Council, the great religious assembly 
of Hellas, : — a concession equivalent to the recognition of 
Macedon as a Greek state. Step by step his ambition grew, 
till he began to think of a grand scheme of conquest. 

85. This plan the great Athenian orator Demosthenes 
clearly perceived, and he commenced utterins; 

, ,1 r 1- • • • 1 T Demosthenes. 

the thunder of his voice in warnings ; but the 

Athenians had lost much of their patriotic ardor, so they 

took these warnings but tardily. 



104 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

86. The direct aggressions of Philip on Athens com- 
Career of menced about 358 B. c, and for twenty years he 
P^^^^P- continued a mixed policy of war and intrigue, 
which at length made him master of Greece. In 338 b. c, 
at Chaerone'a (in Bceotia), he won a decisive victory over 
the Athenians and Thebans ; this crushed the liberty of 
Greece, and made it in reality a province of Macedonia. 

87. The main causes of Philip's wonderful success were 
Causes of his twofold, — 1. His admirable military organiza- 
success. ^JQj^ . ^^ Macedonian phalanx, invincible until 
it came to be opposed to the Romans, was his creation. 
2. His political finesse: taking advantage of the divided 
condition of Greece and of the general prevalence of cor- 
ruption, he played off state against state, politician against 
politician, promising, cajoling, bribing, threatening, so that 
he won even more by diplomacy than by force. 

88. Philip now announced his intention of uniting all 

the forces of Hellas to make war on Persia, 

His after plans. i i i . • r ^ i 

and avenge the old invasions of Greece by 
Darius and Xerxes. This was a very skillful stroke of policy 
on the part of Philip ; it diverted the minds of the Greeks 
from the thought of the loss of their independence, by filling 
their imaginations with the glorious vision of a great na- 
tional enterprise of the Hellenes against the barbarians. 

89. The design, however, was not executed ; for in the 
^,. ^ , midst of the preparations Philip was assassi- 

Hi3 death. r , . -^ ' r < \ 

nated by one of his own subjects (336 b. c), at 
the age of forty-six, after a reign of twenty-three years. 



2. CAREER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 

90. Philip was succeeded by his son Alexander, known 

as Alexander the Great. At the age of twent}^ 

he became heir to his father's power, and of 

far more than his father's military genius. He was imme- 



ALEXANDER THE GREAT. IO5 

diately acknowledged generalissimo of Greece against the 
Persians, as his father had been. In the year 334 he set 
out on his great expedition, and as he never returned to 
Macedonia or Greece, we must now turn our eyes away 
from Greek history proper, and follow the marvelous ca- 
reer of the youthful conqueror. 

91. Alexander .crossed the Hellespont with a small army 
of 35,000 men, and advanced to the Grani'cus His first vic- 
(in Asia Minor). Here a Persian anny some- *°"^s- 
what larger than his own was met and defeated, b. c. 334. 
He then passed victoriously through the Persian provinces of 
Asia Minor, and entered Syria. At Issus^ near the borders 
of Cilicia and Syria, a vast Persian army under Darius 
Codoman'nus was met. The nature of the ground was such 
that the Persian superiority in numbers did not tell ; Alex- 
ander here won a signal victory (^^Z2i ^- C-)> ^.nd Darius fled, 
leaving his mother and his wife captives. 

92. Alexander did not immediately follow up the Per- 
sians, but proceeded from Issus against Tyre, His next op- 
Gaza, and Egypt, at this time under the domin- oration. 

ion of Persia. Twenty months sufficed for the reduction 
of these places. The foundation of the great seaport Al- 
exandria, — an act of far-sighted policy on the part of Alex- 
ander, — was a result of his sojourn in Egypt. 

93. Having possessed himself of all the maritime prov- 
inces of Persia, Alexander, in b. c. 331, pro- Battle of 
ceeded to seek his enemy in the heart of his Arbeia. 
empire. The final conflict took place at Arbe'la in Assyria."^ 
Here Darius had chosen his ground and arrayed the full 
force of his empire. But the Asiatic soldier was inferior 
to the European, and the invading force was led by a con- 
summate military genius. The result was the complete 
overthrow of a Persian force of a million men by less than 

* Though the action bears the name of Arbela, it was in reality fought 
at Gaugame'la, a village 20 miles distant. 



I06 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

50,000 Greeks (b. c. 331). So decisive was the victory, that 
the three capitals of the empire, Babylon, Susa, and Per- 
sep'olis, surrendered almost without resistance ; and the 
Persian monarch became a fugitive, and was erelong assas- 
sinated. 

94. Thus at the age of twenty-five Alexander saw him- 
Aiexander's sclf lord of Western Asia. But the most re- 
ambition. markable part of the conqueror's career was 
now to begin. Instead of settling down in the luxurious 
capital of the East, he was urged by an irresistible impulse 
to press on, so long as there were lands or men to conquer. 

95. To the east of Persia lay a new and unknown 
Expedition to world, believed to be one of immense wealth, 
India. ^^^ j^g resolvcd to penetrate it. Half explor- 
ing, half conquering, he pushed his way into the mysterious 
Orient as far as the river Hyph'asis (the modern Sutlej) in 
Northern India (326 b. c.).* He subdued the princes that 
were found reigning here, and then desired to press east- 
ward and complete the subjugation of the continent, which 
was believed to terminate at no great distance. 

96. His soldiers, however, refused to go any farther 
than the Hyphasis ; so he had to prepare to return home- 
wards. It is a proof of his inventive genius, that in place 

* See the route of Alexander on the map opposite page 55. From 
Persep'olis he went to Ecbat'ana, thence eastward through Media, Hyr- 
cania, Parthia, and Aria, founding in the latter a city of Alexandria 
(modem Herat) ; then southward through Drangia'na ; then (late in 330) 
northeastward through Aracho'sia, founding there Alexandrop'olis (mod- 
ern Candahar' ? ) ; then northward across the range of the Paropami'sus 
or Hindoo Koosh, across the Oxus River, and (early in 329) traversing 
Bactria'na and Sogdia'na to the capital of the latter, Maracanda (modern 
Samarcand) ; then northward to the Jaxartes River, where he founded 
Alexandria Eschate (i. e. the last ox farthest) ; then back again, scouring 
Sogdiana and Bactriana in various directions ; then, in 327, southeast- 
ward from Bactriana to the Indus, which he crossed at Tax'ila; then 
eastward to the Hydas'pes, founding Buceph'ala and Nicae'a, and finally 
to the Hyph'asis. 



ALEXANDER THE GREAT. IO7 

of retracing his steps he went back by an entirely new path- 
He built a fleet to sail down the Hydas'pes Return from 
and the Indus, while the bulk of his army ^"^^^a- 
marched down their banks. Reaching the Indian Ocean, 
Alexander sent his admiral, Near'chus, with the fleet, round 
to the Euphrates ; he himself led his army overland through 
the desert region of Gedro'sia (Beloochistan) and Carma'nia 
into Persia. Though his army suffered terribly in the des- 
ert, yet Alexander brought back the greater part of his force 
to Persepolis (324 b. c), and began to prepare for new en- 
terprises. 

97. The plans of Alexander were brought to an end by 
the sudden death of their projector, at Baby- 

, , r , . 1 /■ \ His death. 

Ion, at the age of thirty-three (b. c. '^2y). 

Thus cut off in the vigor of early 
manhood, he left no inheritor either of 
his power or of his projects. When 
asked on his death-bed to whom he 
left the empire, he said, "To the 
strongest." But there was none strong 
enough. Thus the vast dominion broke 
into fragments soon after his death. 

Coin of Alexander. ^^^ j^-^ ^^^r^^^ schemes of policy and 

conquest were buried in his grave. 

98. Though the great empire of Alexander broke in 
pieces almost at once, yet the effects of his Result of his 
career have remained to all time.. One great conquests, 
result was the Hellenizing of the conquered lands, that is, 
their assimilation to Greek ideas and Greek civilization. 
"The Greek language became the tongue of all govern- 
ment and literature throughout many countries where the 
people were not Greek by birth. It was thus at the very 
moment that Greece began to lose her political freedom 
that she made, as it were, an intellectual conquest of a 
large part of the world." 




108 HISTORY OF GREECE. 



3. ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS. 

99. The great empire of Alexander, as has been said, 
Division of fell to pieces after his death, and the generals 
the empire. ^j^q j-^^^j fought Under him contended fiercely 
during twenty years for the fragments. In the year 301 a 
decisive action took place at Ipsus in Phrygia, the result of 
which gave Syria and the East to Seleucus, Egypt to Ptol- 
emy, Thrace to Lysim'achus, and Macedonia to Cassander. 
Of the various kingdoms founded by these men, two are of 
special interest, — the kingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt 
and the kingdom of the Seleu'cidae in the East. 

100. Egypt fell to the lot of Ptolemy, one of Alexander's 

generals, known as Ptolemy Soter. He was 
an energetic monarch, and during a long reign 
(323-283 B.C.) ruled Egypt, on the whole, well. The 
Greeks and the Macedonians whom he carried with him or 
who emigrated to Eg)^t were the ruling race ; but the Egyp- 
tians were not oppressed, for many of the civil rulers were 
natives, and particular respect was paid to the old Egyptian 
religion. 

101. Ptolemy I. was followed by a series of monarchs 

also called Ptolemies down to the time of 

The Ptolemies. ^ ^, , , r i i- r ■, 

Queen Cleopatra, the last of the Ime of the 
Ptolemies. On her death (30 b. c.) Egypt became a Roman 
province. 

102. The history of Egypt during the three centuries of 
Alexandrine Ptolcmaic rulc is mainly the history of Alexan- 
civiiization. dria, wliich was made the capital, and which 
soon became a great and flourishing city. Literature, phi- 
losophy, and the arts were assiduously cultivated ; the great 
Alexandrian Library was swelled to 500,000 volumes, and a 
novel and peculiar culture and civilization — a mingling of 
Greek, Egyptian, and Jewish — arose on the Nile banks, 
under the paternal despotism of the Ptolemies. 



MACEDON AND GREECE. IO9 

103. The kingdom of the Seleucidse was founded (312 
B. c.) by Seleucus, another of Alexander's gen- Kingdom of 
erals. At first the kingdom consisted merely Seieucus. 

of Babylonia and the adjacent regions, Susiana, Media, and 
Persia ; but Seleucus afterwards made himself master of all 
the countries lying between the Indus and Euphrates on the 
one hand, and the Jaxartes and the Indian Ocean on the other. 
A still further addition was soon made in nearly all of Asia 
Minor. Seleucus now removed his capital from Babylonia 
to the newly founded Greek city of Antioch in Syria. 

104. Seleucus, who died by assassination in 280, was fol- 
lowed by a succession of kinsfs known as the ^ 

.^ , . / , - , . Later history. 

Seleucidae, who for about two centuries ruled 
over the kingdom he had founded. This portion of history, 
however, is not specially instructive, and the kingdom of the 
Seleucidse was of no considerable importance in the history 
of civilization. The two centuries are filled with the stories 
of wars and revolts, in the midst of which the kingdom grad- 
ually lost its huge proportions ; its remnant was finally con- 
quered by Pompey and absorbed into the Roman Empire 
in the year 65 b. c. 



4. LATER HISTORY OF MACEDON AND GREECE. 

105. We now return to wfiat took place in Macedon and 
Greece subsequently to the death of Alexander Greece resists 
the Great in b. c. 323. On the death of Alex- Macedon. 
ander, the Greeks were inspired by high hopes of bursting 
the chains which bound Hellas to the footstool of the 
Macedonian kings. Athens, under Demosthenes and Hy- 
per'ides, took the lead : they formed a confederacy of the 
Greek states, and entered on what was called the " Lamian 
war "(323-321 B. c). But the confederates were unsuccessr 
ful, and the yoke of Macedonia was riveted on them more 
firmly than ever. 



no HISTORY OF GREECE. 

106. The last days of Grecian history, before the coun- 
Later Greek try Came altogether under the power of the 
politics. Romans, are distinguished in several ways 
from the times which went before them. The chief powers 
of Greece now were Macedonia, Ach^a, ^tolia, and Sparta : 
Macedonia, for reasons that will readily be known ; Ach^ea 
and ^tolia, from a new fact in the politics of Greece^ 
namely, the formation of Federal Leagues of States. 

107. The nature of these leagues was similar to the 
Grecian federal union of the States of Switzerland and 
leagues. q£ ^^^ ^^^ Republic ; that is, there was an 
agreement on the part of several states to give up part of 
their power, and especially their control of questions of 
peace and war, to a general government in which all had a 
share. These leagues now came to be of special weight in 
Greek politics, since it was found that as long as the cities 
stood one by one they had no chance of keeping their free- 
dom against the Macedonian kings. The most important 
of these federal unions were the Achaean (formed in 280 
B. c.) and the ^tolian Leagues. Besides these two great 
federations, there were smaller unions; so that, with the 
exception of Sparta at one end and Macedonia at the other, 
the greater part of Greece was parted out among the differ- 
ent leagues. 

108. These confederations of the Greek States subserved 

a useful purpose, as they enabled them to pre- 
serve a front of independence against Mace- 
don. Under Ara'tus and Philopoe'men, — two patriots of 
the kind that Hellas had produced in her glorious times, — 
the States of the Achaean League rose to a considerable 
eminence (245-213 B.C.); but the jealous selfishness of 
Sparta once more led to discord and strife, and the Mace- 
donian king, being called in as umpire, was once more 
master. 

109. But Macedon itself was about to be swallowed up by 



ANAL YTIC SYNOPSIS. 1 1 1 

a yet greater power, — by Rome. It was at this time, as we 
shall presently see, that the Romans, having Macedon and 
broken the power of Carthage, turned their R°"ie. 
ambition eastward. After a long conflict (200-168 b. c.) 
the Macedonian kingdom was overthrown at the battle of 
Pydna, 168 b. c, and Perseus, the last of the Macedonian 
kings, adorned as a captive the triumph of a Roman general. 

110. After this event the Greek republics were for a 
short time left independent ; but, quarreling Last days of 
once more among themselves, they were finally <^>^eece. 
(146 B. c.) reduced to a Roman province under the name 
of Achaia. 

111. The intellectual history of later Greece was of a 
different character from that of its glorious Decline of 
period. There was more of scholarship, but ^^^^^s. 

less of creative genius. We have seen that the Oriental 
conquests of Alexander and the Greek rule in the new king- 
doms of the East tended to Hellenize Asia ; but there was 
a reflex influence of Asia on Hellas herself. The Oriental 
habits of servility and adulation superseded the old free- 
spoken independence and manliness ; patriotism and public 
spirit waned ; literature lost its vigor ; art deteriorated, and 
tlie people sank into a nation of pedants, parasites, and 
adventurers. 

" 'T was Greece, but living Greece no more ! " 



Three Periods 

of 
Greek history. 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. 

First Authentic Period,— from the Dorian migra- 
tions to the beginning of the Persian Wars, B. c. 
1 100- 500. 

Second Period, — from the beginning of the Persian 
Wars to the victory of Philip of Macedon at Chaero- 
nea, b. c 500-338. 

Third Period, — from the victory of Philip to the 
absorption of Greece by the Romans, b. c. 338- 146, 



112 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



General 
Summary. 



General 
Summary. 



First Period, B.C. 1100-500. 

The Heroic Age ended with a 
general migration of the tribes of 
Greece, the settlement of the Do- 
rians in the Peloponnesus, and the 
establishment of colonies on the 
shores of Asia Minor and else- 
where. In the succeeding three 
or four centuries the Spartans, 
under the form of government 
established by Lycurgus, became 
the leading state of the Pelopon- 
nesus, conquering the Messenians 
and others. Athens meantime 
had become an oligarchy. A more 
moderate government was estab- 
lished by Solon ; however, con- 
tentions were frequent, and Pi- 
sistratus seized power, which 
remained with his sons, till the 
Pisistratidas were expelled, and 
. Athens became a pure democracy. 

Second Period, B. C. 500 - 338. 

The Ionian Greeks in Asia 
Minor revolted from Persia, and 
Athens lent them aid. Accord- 
ingly Darius sent Mardonius 
against Greece ; but he advanced 
no farther than Macedonia, his 
fleet being destroyed by a storm. 
Then Darius sent a vast force 
under Datis, but it was defeated 
in the battle of Marathon. Da- 
rius having died, his son Xerxes 
moved on Greece with an im- 
mense army and fleet: he was 
successful at Thermopylae, and 
took Athens; but was defeated at 
Salamis, and the remaining force 
at Platsea and Mycale, — which 
■\ caused the Persian scheme wholly 



LEADING DATES. 



Dorian migration iioo 



Colonies founded 
in Asia Minor 
(about) 1000 

Period of Lycur- 
gus (about 850 

Beginning of first 
Messenian war.. 743 

Beginning of sec- 
ond 685 

Solon's constitu- 
tion 594 

Pisistratus be- 
came dictator... 560 

Banishment of the 
Pisistratidae 510 

Revolt of the Ioni- 
an Greeks against 
Persia 500 

Expedition of Mar- 
donius 492 



Battle of Mara- 
thon 490 



Battle of Ther- 
mopylae 480 

Battle of Salamis. 480 

Battle of Plataea.. 479 

Battle of Mycale.. 479 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. 



II 



to fail. The half-century follow- 
ing the battle of Salamis was the 
most brilliant period of Athenian 
history (age of Pericles) ; but the 
greatness of Athens led to the 
Peloponnesian war. This was in- 
terrupted by the Peace of Nicias ; 
but, being renewed, the Athenians 
were beaten in various engage- 
ments, and finally defeated at 
T^gos Potamos : so the result 
of this war was the ascendency of 
Sparta. Sparta continued prom- 
inent till her defeat at Leuctra. 
Thebes now became for a while 
the leading state ; but Greece, 
rent by dissensions, was soon sub- 
jugated by Philip of Macedon, in 
the battle of Chaeronea. 



Beginning of Pelo- 
ponnesian War.. 431 

Peace of Nicias. , . 421 



Battle of ^gos 
Potamos 435 



Battle of Leuctra. 371 



Battle of Chsero- 
nea 338 



General 
Summary. ' 



Third Period, B. C. 338 - 146. 

Philip of Macedon by war and 
intrigues made himself master of 
Greece, and was then appointed 
general-in-chief against Persia ; 
but he died, and his son Alexan- 
der took up the task. He marched 
against the Persians in Asia Mi- 
nor, defeating them at the Granicus 
and at Issus ; then into Egypt and 
Assyria, defeating them in the de- 
cisive battle of Arbela. He after- 
wards marched eastward to beyond 
the Indus, and thence returned to 
Babylon, where he died. After 
Alexander's death his generals 
disputed, and the empire was di- 
vided. Greece, meanwhile, fell 
into a state of intestine war, and 
at last became a Roman province. 



Death of Philip of 
Macedon 336 



Battle of the Gran- 
icus 334 

Battle of Issus... 333 

Battle of Arbela.. 331 



Death of Alexan- 
der 323 



Greece made a Ro- 
man province... 146 



114 HISTORY. OF GREECE. 

CHAPTER V. 
GRECIAN CIVILIZATION. 

I. POLITICAL IDEAS. 

112. The history of Greece, though the history of but a 

small part of the world for a brief period (the 

Part played in * • t •. i , .1 , , ,,. 

history by grand age IS hmited to the century and a half 
'^^^^^' between the battle of Marathon, 490 b. c, 

and the triumph of Philip of Macedon, 338 b. c), is of 
permanent interest, for the reason that the Greeks were 
the first people to show the world what real freedom and 
real civilization are. It has been said that in the Grecian 
commonwealths "the political and intellectual life of the 
world began." 

113. The great contribution given by Greece to the 
Political free- world's civilization was the practical example 
^°'"- of free, self-governing states. In the Oriental 
nations the only government was despotism : there was an 
absolute lord, and there was a mass of subjects or slaves, 
but no people in a political sense. It was left for the Greek 
states to give an illustration of democracy, — " the govern- 
ment of the people, for the people, by the people." This 
was a great fact : it is only in an atmosphere of freedom 
that the human mind can expand and that progress is pos- 
sible, for political liberty means intellectual liberty; so 
that, without this, the germs of Hellenic genius would prob- 
ably never have borne their rich fruitage of literature and 
art. 

2. RELIGION. 

114. Though the Greeks never rose to the exalted He- 
brew conception of one God, yet their religion was much 



religion: 115 



in advance of the dark and often cruel superstitions of 
most of the ancient nations. They were poly- ^ 

1 1 Greek and 

theists, but, as they looked on the gods as other pagan- 
their personal friends, their paganism was a 
religion of love, whereas Asiatic paganism was a religion 
of fear. 

115. The religion of the Greeks received its peculiar 
form from the beautiful fictions of the poets, its poetic 
especially of Homer and He'siod. Thus their character, 
mythology was an inexhaustible treasury of highly ideal con- 
ceptions which the chisel and the pen of artists and poets 
embodied in forms of immortal grandeur and loveliness. 

116. In the Grecian theogony, or history of the gods, the 
earliest events that are described are the pro- Greek theog- 
ceedings of certain gigantic agents, — the col- °"y- 

lision of certain terrific forces, which were ultimately reduced 
under the more orderly government of Zeus, or Jupiter, 
with whom begins a new dynasty, and a different order of 
beings. 

117. Zeus divided the sovereignty with his two brothers, 
— Posei'don (Neptune) and Ha des (Pluto). Dynasty of 
He retained for himself the ether and the at- ^^^^• 
mosphere, together with the general presiding function. 
Poseidon obtained the sea, while Hades ruled the world of 
shades. These deities, with their sisters and divine progeny, 
comprehended the gods worshiped by the early Greeks. 
Twelve were especially called the great Olympian gods, 
being supposed to dwell on the heights of Mount Olympus 
and to form the divine ag'ora, or council of the gods, which 
was held there. 

The student will here find the names and chief attributes of the Olym- 
pian divinities, together with the Latin names, by which they are more 
generally known 
I. Zeus, or Jupiter, the chief and father of the gods. He is always 

represented as seated on a throne with the thunderbolts in his right 

hand, and an eagle by his side. 



Il6 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

2. Po-sei'don, or Neptune, the earth-shaker and ruler of the sea : his 
symbol is a trident. 

3. A-pol'lon, or Apollo (called also Phoebus Apollo), the divinity of 
poetical inspiration, of song and music. He was figured as the beau 
z^/^/ of manly beauty. (Statue of Apollo Belvedere discovered in 1503.) 

4. Ar'te-mis, or Diana, the huntress among the immortals, the divin- 
ity of flocks and of the chase. As twin-sister of Apollo, she was the 
divinity of the moon. 

5. He-phais'tos, or Vulcatt, the god of terrestrial fire : he is repre- 
sented as a blacksmith. 

6. Her'mes, or Mercury, the messenger of the gods ; the god of elo- 
quence, and the protector of trade : he is marked by his winged san- 
dals, and by his caduceus, or wand. 

7. A'res, or Mars, the god of war, delighted in the din of battle, the 
slaughter of men, and the destruction of towns. 

8. He'ra, or Jtmo, the wife of Jupiter, a beautiful but unamiable god- 
dess. 

9. A-the'na, or Minerva (also Pallas), the goddess of wisdom and war. 

10. Hes'tia, or Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. 

11. De-me'ter, or Ce'res, the goddess of agriculture. 

12. Aph-ro-di'te, or Vemis, the goddess of love and beauty, is gener- 
ally represented with her son E'ros, or Cupid. The legend runs that 
she rose from the sea-foam and landed on the island of Cyprus. The 
Odyssey represents her as the wife of Vulcan. Venus was of course 
a favorite subject with the Greek sculptors. The two finest remain- 
ing statues of this goddess are the Venus de Medici and the lovely 
but imperfect statue known as the Venus of Milo. 

118. Besides the twelve dii majores, or greater gods of 
Other divini- Olympus, there was an indefinite number of 
*^®^- others, some of whom were little inferior in 
power and dignity. Such were He'lios, or Sol (the Sun) ; Bac- 
chus, whom the Greeks called Diony'sos, to whom the goat- 
herds and vine-dressers paid especial honor; the Muses; 
the Nere'ides, or sea-nymphs ; the Graces, etc. There were 
also monsters, — the progeny of the gods, — as the Harpies, 
the Gorgons, Cer'berus, the Centaurs, the Dragon of the 
Hesper'ides, etc. 

119. By the Greeks all nature was imaged as moving 
and working through a number of personal agents ; and 



GRECIAN FESTIVALS. 11/ 

though many of the legends concerning these personages 
appear to us silly, and some quite shockinsr, 

: .u ^ f^ ^ T • . .1^ General view 

yet the early Greek religion was, to say the of Greek re- 
least, composed of many beautiful and poetic ^^^°"' 
conceptions. It was not until later that the Greeks adopted 
from Egypt, Asia Minor, and Thrace the grosser supersti- 
tions practiced in their orgies and Eleusinian mysteries. 

120. The popular worship of the gods consisted princi- 
pally in sacrifices, which were either offerings 

of prayer and thanksgiving, or sin-offerings: °^^ ^^' 
these were celebrated by the priests either in the open air, 
on the tops of mountains, in forests and groves, or in tem- 
ples, especially on the occasion of the celebration of the 
great national festivals. The offerings were either animals 
— sometimes single, sometimes in great numbers (heca- 
tombs) — or inanimate objects, as fruits, wine, honey, milk, 
frankincense, etc. Other modes of honoring the gods were 
by short forms of prayer uttered standing and with out- 
stretched arms, by votive offerings, solemn processions, and 
religious dances. 

121. The Greeks believed that they obtained revelations 
of the divine will from the oracles, of which ^ , 

1 1 1 r r, -!->. Oracles. 

the most renowned were those of Zeus at Uo- 
do'na, and of Apollo at Delphi. 



3. GRECIAN FESTIVALS. 

122. One of the most striking features of Grecian life 
were the congresses of the people of all the The four fes- 
states and colonies at the four great national ^^^ais. 
festivals, — the Olympic, Pyth'ian, Isth'mian, and Ne'mean 
Games. The Olympic Festival was celebrated in honor of 
Jupiter in the plain of Olympia, in E'lis, every four years ; 
the Pythian was held in the third year of each Olympiad, 
near Delphi, in honor of Apollo j the Isthmian, in honor of 



Il8 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

Neptune, was so called from its being celebrated on the 
Isthmus of Corinth ; the Nemean, in honor of Nemean Ju- 
piter, at the town of Ne'mea in the Peloponnesus. 

123. The great feature of all these festivals were those 

" Games," or, as the Greeks called them, " Con- 

Their nature. ,, . , . , . i i . .1 

tests, m which prizes were awarded to the 
victors in athletic exercises, in foot and horse and chariot 
races, in music and poetry. The prizes were of no value 
by themselves, — a mere garland of olive, laurel, etc., placed 
on the victor's head. But this chaplet carried with it death- 
less fame. The name of the victor was proclaimed before 
assembled Hellas, his statue was erected in the sacred 
grove, and his praises were sung by poets. He returned 
in triumphal procession to his home, where distinguished 
honors and substantial rewards awaited him. 

124. These festivals lasted for several days, and drew 

together an immense multitude from all parts 
ciai and liter- of Greece. They thus afforded the best pos- 
^^^' sible means for commercial, social, and literary 

intercourse. " In the booths around the plain of Olympia, 
merchants exchanged the rude wares they had brought from 
the banks of the Tanais and the Rhone against the rich 
products of Asia and Africa ; the social and political condi- 
tion of the various states of the mother country, of her far- 
thest colonies, and of the barbarian nations around them, 
might be compared. Teachers of philosophy discussed 
the theories which sprang up in Athens and Italian Greece ; 
sculptors and painters took occasion to exhibit the finest 
productions of chisel and brush ; while poets and historians 
read aloud, in all their freshness, those immortal works which 
we only half admire for want of such a hearing. Such 
intercourse must have powerfully tended to maintain that 
intellectual sympathy v/hich, in the absence of any political 
union, was the strongest bond of nationality among the sons 
of Hellas." * 

* Philip Smith, History of the World. 



GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. II9 



4. GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. 

125. Leaving aside the Sacred Scriptures, the literature 
of Greece is incomparably the most valuable of comparison of 
all the literatures of antiquity. It is far richer, literatures. 
grander, and more original than that of Rome, — and in- 
deed the Latins were avowedly imitators of the Greeks. 
Of the literature of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Phoeni- 
cians we have only fragments, and the seare far from show- 
ing a high tone of thought or sentiment. The ancient 
Persians have left us but one important work, the Zend- 
Avesta, and this is rude and primitive in its structure. The 
great body of Hindoo writings (the Vedas, etc.) is, from its 
lack of form, curious rather than valuable. With the Greeks, 
for the first time, came noble intellectual conceptions em- 
bodied in forms of literary art. 

126. In Greek literature poetry precedes prose. The 
oldest Greek poems that remain to us are the ,, 

1 . /• • \ 1 Homer. 

two immortal epics (1. e. narrative poems) that 
go by the name of Homer, — namely, the Iliad and the 
Odyssey. These are considered the finest epics ever writ- 
ten : they breathe the freshness and charm of the poetic 
springtime of the world. It is a noticeable fact that these 
earliest monuments of Grecian literature do not belong to 
continental but to colonial Hellas. It was in the Ionian 
and TEolian cities on the coast of Asia Minor that the lit- 
erature of Greece originated ; for whether the Iliad and the 
Odyssey are to be looked on as the work of one individual 
or of many bards, scholars are agreed that they must be 
regarded as the composition of Asiatic Greeks. 

127. By the Greeks Homer Avas regarded as a real in- 
dividual ; Herod'otus places him four hundred Homer among 
years before himself, which would fix his pe- *^^ Greeks, 
riod at about 880 b. c. These poems were for centuries 
lodged only in the memory of bards, who sang or recited 



120 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

them to assembled companies and at festivals. They were 
not committed to writing till the period of Pisistratus at 
Athens (b. c. 560). 

On the subject of the authorship of the Homeric poems, read Chap- 
ter XXI. of Grote's Greece, Vo]. II. The most celebrated English trans- 
lations of Homer are those of Chapman (time of Shakespeare), Pope and 
Cowper (last century), Lord Derby and our American poet, William 
Cullen Bryant. 

128. The next development of epic poetry was in Boeo'- 

tia, in the works of Hesiod, who is thought to 

Hesiod. t t i • i o i , . , 

have lived ni the 8th century, that is, about a 
century after Homer. The two most famous books of He- 
siod are the Theogony and the Woi'ks and Days. These 
were looked up to by the Greeks as of great authority 
in theological and philosophical matters ; but they do not 
possess the same interest for us as the Homeric poems. 

129. The epic was the only kind of poetry during the 
Epic and kingly period. The epics usually related the 
^*^sy- exploits of the heroes of the mythical ages, 
and hence were very acceptable to princes who claimed 
descent from those heroes. When, however, regal rule gave 
place to democracy, poets arose who were stimulated to a 
freer expression of //z'^ feelings. The new style of poetry 
is called the Elegy ^ — but the word has a wider meaning 
than with us, and denoted all emotional poetry. One of the 
most famous writers of the elegy was Tyrtae'us (born in the 
latter part of the 8th century b. c). He is said to have 
been a lame schoolmaster at Athens, sent to Sparta in de- 
rision by the Athenians, to whom the Spartans had applied 
for a leader in the Messenian war: it is added that his 
stirring songs had««a great influence on the campaign. 
Simon'ides of Ceos, who belongs to the 5th century, is also 
named as a writer of noble elegies. 

130. The next step in the progress of Greek poetical 



GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. 1 21 

literature was the growth of lyric poetry. The chief feature 
of this style was its connection with music, 

, „ . , T . Lyric poetry. 

vocal as well as instrumental. Lyric poems 
were sung, accompanied with music and often with the 
movements of the dance. The most famous names in 
Greek lyric poetry are Sappho, Alcs'us, Anac'reon, and Pin- 
dar. Sappho, who wrote in the 6th century b. c, was a Les- 
bian ; she sang of love, and Alcaeus, who also was a Lesbian 
and her contemporary, calls her the " violet-crowned, pure^, 
sweetly smiling Sappho." Pindar (born 522 b. c.) was a 
native of Boeotia ; he was the most celebrated of the Doric 
school of lyrists, and was thought by the Greeks the most 
sublime of their poets. 

131. The highest form of Greek literature, the drama, 
arose in Athens in the age of Pericles, 5th cen- 

tury B. c. Tragedy attained its full develop- 
ment at the hands of ^s'chylus (born 525 b. c), Soph'ocles 
(born 495 B. c), and Eurip'ides (born 480 b. c). The fertil- 
ity and excellence of Greek dramatic poetry at the flood tide 
of national greatness were most remarkable. The festivals 
of Bacchus (Dionysos), celebrated at Athens every spring, 
were the principal occasions on which new pieces were 
brought out, and always in competition for the prize and 
under the direction of the chief magistrates. 

132. Greek tragedy as exhibited in the masterpieces of 
^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides was very Comparison 

i-rr r ■, ■, . .-, r With Shake- 

dmerent irom our drama, and especially from speare. 
the plays of Shakespeare. The Shakespearian tragedy deals 
with human life and passion ; Greek tragedy with the gods 
and mythical heroes. In regard to treatment, the Greek 
dramatist was bound to obey the rules of " unity of time and 
place " j that is, the plot must be confined to one place and 
to an interval of time not much exceeding that which was 
occupied in the representation. All that could not be sup- 
posed to happen in the presence of the chorus, and within 



122 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

the compass of a few hours, had to be narrated^ and 
could not be acted. Shakespeare wholly disregarded the 
limitations of time and space. Had such a subject as 
King Lear been treated by Sophocles, all that precedes 
the fifth act would have been narrated^ and the fifth alone 
acted, 

133. Athenian comedy derived its origin from the revels 

and sdbes of the comus. or Bacchic procession. 

Comedy. ^ ^ * • 1 , /, 

Its greatest master was Aristoph'anes (born at 
Athens 444 b. c). Among the most famous of his comedies 
that have come down to us are The Clouds., The Wasps, The 
Birds, and The Frogs. They satirize Athenian society in a 
very pungent and amusing manner. 

134. We now turn to prose literature. In history the 

first p^reat name is that of Herodotus, called 

Herodotus. , ,,%^ , r -r-r- ,, -n- T • 

the " Father of History. ' He was an Ionian 
Greek of Halicarnas'sus in Asia Minor, and was born in 
484 B. c, between the first and second Persian wars. The 
subject chosen by Herodotus was the History of the Per- 
sian Wars ; but it took a wider scope, and was really a sort 
of universal history up to his time. He had traveled exten- 
sively in Egypt and in Asia, and presents us with a vivid and 
most interesting picture of society and life among the na- 
tions of antiquity at his time. The style of Herodotus is 
that of a charming story-teller, and his work is still read 
with pleasure. 

Many translations of Herodotus have been made. The best is that 
of Rawlinson, in four volumes. The notes and essays appended to the 
text of Herodotus in this admirable work contain the results of the latest 
scholarship regarding the history of each country treated. 

135. The most philosophic historian produced by Greece 

is Thucyd'ides (born at Athens 471 b. c). 

The subject chosen by Thucydides was the 

Peloponnesian War. His history is distinguished for the 



GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. 1 23 

loftiness of its style, and for the profound insight it dis- 
plays into the actions and motives of men. It is the ear- 
liest example of the philosophy of history, and as such it is 
what Thucydides himself proudly called it, a " possession 
forever." 

136. Among other historians may be named Xenophon, 
a contemporary of Thucydides, distinguished other histo- 
for his easy and graceful style of narrative ; Po- ^^^"s. 
lyb'ius, who belongs to the 2d century b. c. ; and Diodo'rus, 
who belongs to the ist century. Plutarch, whose Lives has 
been called the " Bible of heroisms," * lived in the 2d cen- 
tury A. D. 

137. In connection with prose literature should be men- 
tioned eloquence, or oratory. It was first cul- 

^- ^ 1 A 1 1 • 1 Oratory. 

tivated as an art at Athens durmg the great 
period of the democracy. Pericles himself was master of a 
style of oratory so sublime as to gain for him the epithet of 
" the Olympian." Political oratory was exhibited in its 
fullest development in the contest between ^s'chines (393 - 
317 B. c), the advocate of Macedonian interests, and his 
greater adversary Demosthenes (385-332 B.C.), who, in 
exposing and opposing the plans of Philip, 

" shook the arsenal 
And fulmined over Greece." 

138. Philosophy was first cultivated in the Grecian col- 
onies of Asia Minor and Lower Italy : in the Early phiios- 
former by Tha'les, who lived in the 6th century, op^ers. 

and was the founder of the Ionic school ; in the latter by 
Pythag'oras, who belonged to the same century, and was the 
head of the Pythagore'an school. Thales, Pythagoras, and 
the other early sages of Greece chiefly occupied themselves 
with natural philosophy ; but in the 5 th century they were, 
succeeded by the Sophists and Rhetors, who taught the arts 

* R. W. Emerson. 



124 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



Socrates, 



of dialectics and rhetoric, and were the paid instructors of 
the Athenian youth. 

139. Soc'rates, one of the wisest and greatest of the hu- 
man race, belongs to the epoch immediately 
succeeding the age of Pericles (469-399 b. c). 
He did not teach any positive system of philosophy ^ his 
special work was to break down prejudices, to show people 
their ignorance, to expose fallacies, and to assert the exist- 
ence of great necessary truths, — of the good, the true, and 

the beautiful, 
— and this he 
did by a meth- 
od of search- 




mg mquiry 
called, after 
him, the So- 
craiic. He 

Socrates. Plato. waS ungainly 

of person and ascetic in his habits ; he taught without pay 
in the porticoes, the market-place, and the street, addressing 
all who chose to listen, in a homely but most pointed and 
telling style. Notwithstanding his pure and noble life, and 
his efforts to promote the welfare of mankind, his doctrines 
made him many enemies : he was charged before the Athe- 
nian magistrates with not believing in the gods, and with 
being a corrupter of youth. Being condemned on these 
charges, he was sentenced to drink a cup of hemlock. He 
met his death calmly, surrounded by his beloved and weep- 
ing disciples, to whom in his last hours he discoursed on 
the Immortality of the Soul. 

140. Plato (429 — 347 B. c), one of the disciples of Soc- 
rates, was the founder of the Academic 
school, so called from the groves of Acade'mus, 
near Athens, where the philosopher gave his lectures. The 
works of Plato remain in the form of his Dialogues, In these 



Plato. 



GRECIAN ART. 1 25 



Socrates is represented as the principal speaker; but the 
philosophy of Plato was really his own. It is distinguished 
for its lofty ideal character. The Platonic doctrines have 
had a powerful influence on the human mind, and are the 
high-water mark of spirituality in the ancient world. 

141. Aristot'le (384-322 b. c), the founder of the Peri- 
patetic school (at the Lyceum at Athens), was . 

the most logical and systematic of the philoso- 
phers and scientists of Greece. He first gave form to what 
is called the deductive system of reasoning. His philosophy 
predominated over the minds of men for two thousand 
years, — lasting, in fact, until it was displaced by the Induc- 
tive system, with which the name of Bacon is associated. 
Induction arrives at truth by reasoning up from facts to 
general laws ; deduction begins with abstract principles and 
seeks to arrive at truth by reasoning downwards, as in ge- 
ometry. Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great. 

5. GRECIAN ART. 

142. The four fine arts are architecture, sculpture, paint- 
ing, and music. The artistic instincts of the Forms of 
Greeks expressed themselves in the first two Greek art. 
forms (for painting and music belong properly to the Mid- 
dle Ages and to Christianity) ; and in these a degree of per- 
fection was attained that was never before seen and that 
has never since been surpassed. 

143. The most important architectural works of Greece 
are the temples of the gods : in' these we find 

the development of the Grecian column in the 
three classic forms, — the Doric, the Ionic, and the Cor- 
inthian. It is probable that all the principal cities of 
Greece had temples commensurate with their dignity before 
the Persian wars ; but many were destroyed during that 
struggle, and in the grand period of national life that 



126 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



followed the contest with Persia the people pulled down 
and rebuilt the old structures in a more magnificent style. 
The consequence is that nearly all the great temples now 
found in Greece were built in the forty or fift}^ years which 
succeeded the defeat of the Persians at Salamis. 







Ionic order. 



Doric Ionic. Corintiiian. 

Three Orders of Greek Architecture. 

144. The graceful Ionic order of architecture had its 
origin in the Greek cities of Ionia in Asia 
Minor. The most celebrated example of this 

order was the temple of Diana at Ephesus, burnt on the 
birthnight of Alexander the Great (b. c. 356) by Heros'tratus, 
and rebuilt in still more splendid style in the Roman age. 
This temple was 425 feet long by 220 feet wide. Its whole 
foundation has been laid bare by English explorations. 

145. The Corinthian was the highest and most richly 
Corinthian Ornamented of the Grecian orders. The an- 
cients employed it in temples dedicated to 

Venus, Flora, and the njmiphs of fountains, because the 
flowers and foliage with which it is adorned seemed well 



GRECIAN ART. 12/ 



adapted to the delicacy and elegance of such deities. It 
dates from the latter part of the 5th century b, c. 

146. The most famous of the Doric temples of Greece is 
the Parthenon, — the " House of the Virgin," 
dedicated to Athena (Minerva) : it was built of 

pure white marble, and crowned the Acropolis at Athens. 
Of this structure a great authorit}^ says : " In its o^\ai class 
it is undoubtedly the most beautiful building in tlie world. 
It is true it has neither the dimensions nor die wondrous 
expression of power and eternity inherent in Eg}'ptian tem- 
ples, nor has it the variety and poetry of the Gothic cathe- 
dral ; but for intellectual beauty, for perfection of proportion, 
for beauty of detail, and for the exquisite perception of the 
highest and most recondite principles of art ever applied to 
architecture, it stands utterly and entirely alone and unri- 
valed, — the glory of Greece, and the shame of the rest of 
the world."* 

147. It is acknowledged that in sculpture tlie Greeks 
attained absolute perfection. The finest speci- 

r r^ . , , . Sculpture. 

mens of Grecian sculpture that remain to us 
are the figures that adorned the pediments and friezes of 
the Parthenon. Most of these were taken by Lord Elgin 
from Athens to England, and are now in the British Mu- 
seum. Many of the figures are, unfortunately, in a mutilat- 
ed state, but they nevertheless embody the veiy perfection 
of loveliness, majesty, and power. These works were ex- 
ecuted by a school of artists under the direction of the illus- 
trious Phid'ias, who belonged to the grand period following 
the Persian wars. This was the heroic age of Grecian sculp- 
ture : later artists produced forms that the uninstructed re- 
gard as more beautiful^ but they lack tlie perfect purity 
and repose of these immortal works. 



* Ferguson's History of Architecture, Vol. I. p. 221. See cut of the 
Parthenon, p. 73 of the present book. 



128 HISTORY OF GREECE. 



6. GREEK LIFE, MANNERS, ETC. 

148. The mode of life and the manners and customs of 
the Greeks, as gleaned from their writings and the relics 

they have left us, form a deeply interesting 
subject, — v.hich, however, can merely be 
touched on here. 

149. The dress of the Greeks was simple, without un- 

necessary coverino^s or useless display of oma- 

Dress ^ o s: j 

ments. Betrveen the- sexes there was little 
difference of attire. The garments were commonly of wool, 
linen, and later of cotton. The women wore no head-cov- 
erings ; all the men, too, were hatless, except travelers and 
certain kinds of workmen. In-doors the Greeks used no 
foot-covering ; abroad tliey wore sandals, shoes, sometimes 
boots. 

150. The Greeks ate three daily meals, reclining on 

couches, and using neitlier table-cloth nor nap- 
kins. In primitive fashion, they used their fin- 
gers for knives and forks ; but spoons were common. They 
washed the hands (no wonder !) before and after meals. 
Among the common people dried fish and barley bread, '^rith 
dates, were the staple food. Among the well-to-do all sorts 
of luxuries were of course indulged in. After dinner came 
the symposium^ when host and guests drained goblets of 
v.'ine mixed with hot or cold water, being governed by 
the " master of the feast," who was chosen by lot. This 
drinking-bout was enlivened by varied conversation, music, 
dancing, and all sorts of games and amusements. 

151. Though the state did not support schools, yet daily 

school-sroinof was quite s^eneral: the bovs 

Education. , & fc> M fc> 3 . 

alone went to school, however. The whole 
education of a Greek youth was di\^ded into three parts, — 
grammar, music, and g}Tnnastics. The schoolmaster was 
called Xh.^grammatis'tes^ or grammarian j but ^ith the Greeks 



GREEK LIFE, MANNERSy ETC. 1 29 

"grammar" included' most of the rudimentary branches of 
education, while under the term " music " came all intel- 
lectual accomplishments. The gymnasium, where the body 
was rendered supple and strong by wrestling, running, box- 
ing, and kindred pursuits, was part and parcel of Greek 
education, and was much frequented both for pastime and 
exercise. There the contestants trained for the celebrated 
Olympic Games. 

152. Women seem in the Homeric age to have held a 
higher position in the household than in later Position of 
times. In the historic period, the husband woman, 
treated his wife as a faithful slave, " something better than 
his dog, a little dearer than his horse." The principle on 
which the education of women rested was, that just so much 
mental culture was expedient for women as would enable 
them to manage the household, provide for the bodily wants 
of the children, and overlook the female slavey. Secluded 
in the gyfieccB'um, or female apartment, both before and 
after marriage, they led a secluded and narrow life j so that 
we must think of Greek society as destitute of the refining 
and ennobling influence of cultured mothers, sisters, and 
wives ; and this fact resulted in some distinctly traceable 
defects in the products of Grecian genius. We shall here- 
after see that it is to Christianity that we are indebted for 
the elevation of woman to her true place in society. 



130 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



SECTION III. 
HISTORY OF ROME 



CHAPTER I. 
GEOGRAPHY AND RACES. 

1. The history of the Romans, the last and greatest 

. people of antiquity, is now to engage our at- 
tention. We shall see how this people comes 
first to notice as a village communit}^ in the 8th century 
B. c, — how it develops into a vigorous republic and sub- 
dues all the other races of 
the peninsula, — how it push- 
es its conquests beyond the 
bounds of Italy, — and how, 
finally, about the time of the 
birth of Christ, it stands forth 
a great imperial and world- 
ruling power. It is a won- 
derful and most instructive 
stor}'. 

2. Italy is the central one of the three great peninsulas 
Geographical which project from the South of Europe into 
features. ^^ Mediterranean Sea. It has an extreme 
length of 700 miles, is bounded on the north by the chain 
of the Alps, and is surrounded on other sides by the sea. 
It may be divided into two parts, — the northern consisting 
of the great plain drained by the river Padus, or Po^ with 
its tributaries, and the southern being a long tongue of 
land -with the Apennines as a backbone traversing it from 




GEOGRAPHY AXD RACES. 



131 



north to south. It should be noticed, however, that, till 

the time of the Empire, 
the Romans never in- 
cluded the plain of the 
Po in Italy. To this sec- 
tion they gave the name 
of Gallia Cisalpi'na^ or 
Gaul on tliis (the Roman) 
the Alps. Both 
the northern 
and southern 
sections of It- 
aly comprised 
many distinct 
territorial di- 
visions, the 
names of which 
will best be 
learned from 
the map. 

3. Italy was inhabited, at the earliest period to which our 
knowledge carries us back, by four principal 
races, the Gauls, Etruscans, lapyg'ians, and 
Italians proper ; but the first three are of minor importance 
compared with die fourth, the Italians proper. 

4. The Gauls inhabited the greater part of Northern 
Italy (Gallia Cisalpina) ; they were a branch pirst three 
of the same race that inhabited Gaul to the ''^'^^s. 
north of the Alps (France), and hence were Ar}'ans. The 
Etruscans inhabited Etruria, a district bet^veen the Amo 
and the Tiber. Their origin is involved in great obscurit}', 
but it is believed that this people belonged to the Ar}'an 
stock. Certain it is that, long before Rome appears as a 
village on the Tiber, the Etruscans had developed a pe- 
culiar civilization ; they were great builders, and skilled in 




Races. 



132 HISTORY OF ROME. 

many of the arts ; they delighted in auguries, and had a 
strange and gloomy religion. In Apulia and the heel of 
Italy dwelt the lapygians : this people seems to have been 
a primitive race, quite distinct from the Italians proper. 
In addition to these races, Tve should also notice the 
Greeks in Italy, for this people had early planted so many 
colonies on the southern coast that they gave to diat dis- 
trict the name of Mag?ia Grcccia, or Great Greece. 

5. The fourth of the races of Italy is the one with which 

we shall be mainly concerned in Roman his- 

Italians. rx^i • • 1 7- ,- 1 • -i 

tor}'. Ims is the lialiati race proper, which 
occupied almost the whole of Central Italy. It was origi- 
nally a pure Ar}-an stock, nearly related to the Hellenic 
race, — a kinship which is strikingly attested by the agree- 
ment of Greek and Latin in many words that relate to 
agriculture and the primitive facts and phases of life. 

6. The Italians proper were divided into t^vo branches, 
the Latins and the Umbro-Sabellians^ the latter 



Italians. 



including various tribes : — 
( Latins, 

Italians. .< Lmbro- > c- i.- 

) SabelUans. f^^^^^^' ^ 
V V. Sammtes, etc 



Xow it is v.-ith the first branch that we shall be specially 
concerned in the beginnings of Roman histor}', — namely, 
■^-ith the Latin branch of the Italian race ; for it was by 
men of this stock that were laid the foundations of the 
might}' Roman state. 

7. The seat of the Latins was Latium, a small district 
Seat of the o^ the wcstem coast of Central Italy, between 
Latins. ^jje Tiber and the Liris. Its limits are repre- 

sented in the map on the opposite page. 



PRIMEVAL ROME. 



CHAPTER II. 




Latium 
dominion of ^ 
primevalRome <^ 

SCALE OF Miles 



PRIMEVAL ROME. — PERIOD OF THE KINGS. 

8. The early liistoiy of Rome is given in an unbroken 
narrative by the Roman writers, who detail Legends of 
the marv^els of Rome's descent from wide- ^^'^^^ Rome, 
famed Troy, the landing of ^ne'as in Latium, the love of 
the god Mars for the 
vestal Rhea, her bear- \J ^^"J, c } LT^ V4 ^ 

mg twins by the god, ^h^, ''V^^^^Vvv^Ap^^I^^C \ '" --^ 

their exposure in the 
Tiber, their being saved 
and suckled by a she- 
wolf and fed by a wood- 
pecker till found by the 
shepherd Faus'tulus, 
their finally restoring 
their grandfather to the 
throne of Alba Longa, 
and then their collect- 
ing their fellow-shep- 
herds and founding 
a town named Rome 
(from Romulus, the el- 
der of the t\vins), on the 
hill where they had been miraculously saved and educated. 

9. These romantic legends were received by the Romans 
themselves with unquestioning simplicity ; but criticism on 
they can no longer be regarded as a narrative *^^^^- 

of real events. The records of the early days of Rome are 
known to have been destroyed when the city was burned by 
the Gauls (b. c. 390) ; and Livy, the earliest writer on 



134 HISTORY OF ROME. 

Roman affairs whose works have come down to us, wrote 
about 750 years after the foundation of the city. 

10. At a very early period the Latins in the district of 

Latium formed a confederacy of thirty cities, 
nings of at the head of which was the city of Alba 

°™^' Longa. Now it is believed that Rome was 

founded by a colony that went out from Alba Longa with 
the view of establishing there an outpost of defense against 
the Sabines and Etruscans, whose territory adjoined Latium 
at that point. iVnd, indeed, according to modern scholars, 
the very name Roma., in place of having any relation to the 
fabled " Romulus," means a march., or border. 

11. The founding of Rome is placed in the year 753 b. c. 
Earliest his- And, Setting aside the impossible fables of the 
tory. Roman historians, we may say there is good 
reason to believe that as early as the middle of the 8th 
century before the Christian era there stood on a height 
on the Tiber, called the Palatine Mount, a little village 
named Roma, the center of a small township, consisting 
probably of 5000 or 6000 inhabitants, all of them husband- 
men or shepherds. A chain of events which history can- 
not now trace, but which is indicated in a poetic manner 
by a number of early Roman legends, led to the incorpora- 
tion of Rome with two neighboring towTis, — a small Etrus- 
can settlement on the Cselian Hill, supposed to have been 
called Lu'cerum, another a Sabine village on the Quirinal 
Hill, called Quirium. The Sabines were received on a foot- 
ing of equalit}^ but the Etruscans on a subordinate footing. 
The settlement thus consisted of three tribes^ — the Rajiines., 
or Romans, the Tities, or Sabines of Quirium, and the Lu- 
ceres^ or Etruscans of Lucerum. 

12. Tradition hands down the names of seven kings 

v/ho ruled Rome during the regal period (753 - 
509 B.C.); but great obscurity hangs around 
the greater part of this epoch. 



PRIMEVAL ROME. 



13. The Roman citizens were from the earliest times 
di"^aded into two classes, — Patricians and Pie- organization 
beians, a distinction of great importance in °^ society. 
Roman historv-. To the Patricians belonged all magisterial 
offices, all the higher degrees of tiie priesthood, the owner- 
ship of the public lands, and the privilege of using a family 
name. In fact, during the early ages the Patricians alone 
constituted the Fopulus, or people, in a political sense; 
for not only was the senate chosen from their ranks, but 
the sole popular assembly was the assembly of Patricians, 
called the Comi'tia Curia' ia. The Plebeians at this time, 
though freemen and personally independent, were wholly 
destitute of political importance. 

14. During the reign of the iifth king of Rome, Ser^^ius 
Tullius, called the '• King of the Commons,"' an change of 
important change was made in the constitution constitution, 
of the Roman state. Sen^ius gave the Plebeians a share in 
the government by establishing a new national assembly 
called the Comitia Ceniuria'ta, or Assembly of the Hundreds, 
in which both Plebeians and Patricians voted alike. It 
was so arranged that in the new national assembly the old 
families and tiie wealthy class should have most voice. 
However, notwithstanding these restrictions, the new con- 
stitution was a great concession to the people, as it virtu- 
ally admitted ever}' free individual within the Roman ter- 
ritory to a share in the government. 

15. An attempt on the part of the seventh and last king, 
Tarquin'ius Super^bus, to undo these reforms End of the 
and to establish what the ancients called a ^'^s^- 
tyranny, led to the expulsion of him and his family, and to 
the abolition of the kingly form of government at Rome, 
509 B. c. Ever after this the Romans hated the very name 
of king. 



136 HISTORY OF ROME. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 

I. EPOCH OF THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE (509-390 B. C). 

16. The history of Rome as a republic covers a period 
Extent of his- of 482 years, — from the termination of kingly 
tory. rule, 509 B. c, to the termination of republican 
rule by the establishment of tlie empire under Augustus, 
27 B. c. 

17. This period naturally divides itself into four Epochs, 
Its four ., I- Epoch of the Struggle for Existence, be- 
epochs. ginning "uith the establishment of the repub- 
lic and ending with the Gaulish invasion of Italy, 509-390 

B. C. 

II. Epoch of the Roman Conquest of Italy, from the Gaul- 
ish invasion to the complete subjugation of the peninsula, 
after the repulse of P}Trhus, 390-266 b. c. 

III. Epoch of Foreign Conquest, including the Punic and 
Macedonian wars down to the beginning of civil strife un- 
der the Gracchi, 266- 133 b. c. 

IV. Epoch, of Civil Strife, from the Gracchi to the estab- 
lishment of the Empire under Augustus, 133-27 b. c. 

18. AMien, at the close of the 6th century (509 b. c), 
Nature of the Romc ceascd to be under kingly rule, it be- 
government. came a republic. Instead of a king, two mag- 
istrates called Consuls were elected even,- year. In other 
respects the constitution remained as before. The first 
consuls were Brutus and Collati'nus. 

19. Rome had attained a high degree of power under 
Territory un- tier kings. By a treat}^ made in the second 
der the kings, yggj- Qf ^g republic with the Carthaginians 
(508 B. c), a treaty which has fortunately been preserved, it 



THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 1 37 

appears that she was mistress of the whole coast from Ostia 
to Terracina, and traded with Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa. 

20. The state of things under the republic was for a 
long time much less fortunate. The Romans wars of the 
became engaged in contests with their neigh- republic. 
bors, and soon after the change of government they lost a 
considerable part of their dominion. There were : r. Wars 
with the Etruscans ; 2. Wars with the Sabines, Volscians, 
and ^quians ; 3. Wars with the ^quians and Volscians ; 
4. Wars with the ^quians and Veientines ; till finally, after 
over a century of strife, Rome was overwhelmed by the 
Gauls, 390 B. c. It is needless to enter into any account 
of these contests, and the more so, that almost the whole 
histor}' of this epoch is of a legendary character. 

21, Leaving aside the details, however, we can readily 
see that this century or more of desperate character of 
struggle for existence was in many respects a *^^ period, 
great era, and behind the veil of legend we plainly descry 
grand human figures, — the figures of those stern old pa- 
triots who gave to the name Roman its lofty significance. 
The old Roman character was indeed a hard character, — 
it was stern, unfeeling, in many respects cruel ; for we must 
remember that Christianity had not yet come to humanize 
men by the consciousness of universal brotherhood. But 
at the same time it had some noble virtues ; it was of 
heroic mold, and, for the work then required, was doubt- 
less just what was needed. Below will be found brief 
sketches of a few of the great men of the first epoch. 

GREAT NAMES OF EARLY ROME. 

Brutus (Lucius Junius), known as the "Elder Brutus," was one of 
the first two consuls. During his term of office the Roman state was 
threatened both from without and within. The exiled king, Tarquin, 
had retired to Etruria, where he began to intrigue for a return to 
Rome. In this he was aided by a conspiracy of a number of the 



138 HISTORY OF ROME. 

young nobilit}-, and among the conspirators -were found the two sons 
of Brutus himself. The plot being discovered, the consul would not 
pardon his guilty children, and ordered the lictors* to put them to 
death with the other traitors, — a memorable example of inflexible 
justice. Soon after, the Etruscans espoused the cause of Tarquin and 
marched against Rome. When Aruns, a son of Tarquin, saw Brutus 
at the head of the Roman cavalry, he spurred his horse to the charge, 
and both fell from their horses mortally womided. 
Horatius (Codes) is celebrated for his heroic "defense of the bridge." 
The circumstances are these. Porsena, lars or lord of Clusium in 
Etruria, had taken up the cause of the exiled Tarquin, and in 508 B. C. 
advanced with a large army to the Ivlount Janiculum, just across the 
Tiber from Rome, That city was now in the greatest danger, and the 
Etruscans could have entered it by the Sublician bridge, had not 
Horatius Codes, with two comrades, kept the whole Etruscan army 
at bay while the Romans broke down the bridge behind him. When 
it was giving way he sent back his two companions, and withstood 
alone the attacks of the foes till the cracking of the falling timbers told 
him that the bridge was destroyed. Then prapng, " O Father Tiber, 
take me into thy charge and bear me up ! " he plunged into the stream 
and swam across in safety amid the arrows of the enemy. The state 
raised a statue in liis honor, and allowed him as much land as he 
could plow round in one day. Few legends are more celebrated in 
Roman histon.- than this gallant deed of Horatius, and Roman writers 

loved to tell 

" How well Horatius kept the bridge 
In the brave days of old." 

Coriolanus (488 e. c). Caius Marcius, surnamed Coriolanus, from 
his valor at the capture of the Latin town of Corioli, was a brave but 
haughty Patrician. He was hated by the Plebeians, who refused him 
the consulship. This inflamed him with anger, and accordingly when 
the city was suffering from famine, and a present of corn came from 
Sicily, Coriolanus advised the senate not to distribute it among the 
Plebeians, unless they gave up their tribunes. Such insolence enraged 
the Plebeians, who would have torn him to pieces on the spot had not 
the tribunes summoned him before the Comitia of the Tribes. Corio- 
lanus himself breathed nothing but defiance ; and his kinsmen and 
friends interceded for him in vain. He was condemned to exile. Ac- 
cordingly he went over to the Volscians, the enemies of his country- 

♦ The Lictors were public ofncers who attended vr^n the Roman magistrate. 
Each coiisnl had twelve lictors. They carried upon their shoulders /a3f^.r, which were 
rods bound in the form of a btradle, and containing an ax in the middle. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 1 39 



men and offered to head them against Rome. The king of the 
Volscians persuaded his people to appoint Coriolanus their general. 
Nothing could check his victorious progress : town after town fell 
before him ; and he advanced within five miles of the city, ravaging 
the lands of the Plebeians, but sparing those of the Patricians. The 
city was filled with despah". The ten head men in the senate were 
sent in hopes of moving his compassion ; but they were received with 
the utmost sternness, and told the city must submit to his absolute 
will. Next dav the pontiffs, augurs, flamens, and all the priests came 
in their robes of office and in vain prayed him to spare the city. All 
seemed lost, but Rome was saved by her women. Next morning the 
noblest matrons, headed by Veturia/ the aged mother of Coriolanus, 
and by his wife Volumnia, holding her little children by the hand, 
came to his tent. Their lamentations turned him from his purpose. 
" Mother," he said, bursting into tears, " thou hast saved Rome, but 
lost thy son ! " He then led the Volscians home. Some say that he 
was put to death by the Volscians ; but others, that he lived among 
them to a great age, and was often heard to say that " none but an old 
man can feel how wretched it is to live in a foreign land." * 
Cincinnatus (Lucius Quintius, 458 b. c.) was one of the heroes of 
old Roman stor}-, with whose name is connected a well-known spirit- 
stirring legend. He was a noble, but had retired from popular tumult 
to his farm. On one occasion the ■Equians, who were bitter foes of 
the Romans, had surrounded a Roman camp on the Alban hills. In 
this emergency it became necessar}- to appoint a dictator, 7 and the 
senate chose Cincinnatus. The delegates who were sent to announce 
this to him, found the noble Roman engaged in plowing his own fields, 
clad only in his tunic, or shirt. They bade him clothe himself that he 
might hear the commands of the senate. He put on his toga, which 
his wife brought him. They then told him of the peril of the Roman 
army, and that he had been made dictator. Next morning before day- 
break he appeared in the Forum and levied a new army ; he then 
marched against the enemy, and succeeded in hemming in the .Equi- 
ans,who were blockading the Romans. He forced them to surrender, 
and made them pass under the yoke .J Cincinnatus entered Rome 

♦ See Shakespeare's drama of Coriolanus. 

t The Dictator was an extraordinary magistrate appointed in seasons of great peril. 
He possessed absolute power for six months, unless he sooner gave it up : and from the 
time of the appointment of the dictator all the other magistrates, even the consuls, 
ceased to exercise any power. The first dictator was Titus Lartius, appointed in the 
year 49S b. c. 

X Suk jiigiiTtt {j7(g:(?n, a yoke), the origin of our word subjugate- The yoke was 
formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, while a third was fastened across them. 



40 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



in triumph only twenty-four hours after he had quitted it, and volun- 
tarily laid do\NTi his dictatorial power after holding it but fourteen days, 
and returned to his farm. 

22. In addition to troubles from without, the young re- 

public had to meet internal difficulties ; for a 

Social troubles. ^ ^ , ^i-j^ j- ^i_ 

quarter of a century had not passed since the 
expulsion of the kings, before a struggle of classes arose, — 
a struggle between the Patricians and the Plebeians, the first 
of a long series of social contests that constitute the most 
important portion of the aiinals of the early commonwealth. 

23. It appears that the Patricians had found an ingen- 
Oppression of io^s wav of Crippling the Plebeians by means of 
the Piebs. ^^ operation of the Roman law of debt. In 
primitive Rome, as in other ancient states, an insolvent 
debtor was liable to be seized by his creditor, and kept in 
chains or made to work as his slave. Now such had been 
the distress caused by the wars ever since the establishment 
of the republic, that multitudes of the Plebeians had been 
obliged to become debtors to the Patricians, who were the 
exclusive proprietors of the state lands. Hundreds had in 
consequence fallen into a condition of slaver}- ; so that the 
Plebs were thoroughly disheartened, and the Patricians 
practically possessed all power. 

24. \Mien this state of things became unbearable, the 

Plebeians resolved upon quittins: Rome and 

Secession. i -i t 1 i 1 -n. • 

building beyond the Roman terntory a new 
town on the Mons Sacer (Sacred Mountain), about four miles 
from the city, 493 b. c. Thither accordingly they seceded ; 
but after considerable negotiation a compromise was made : 
debtors were relieved and slaves for debt were set free. 

25. At the same time a still more important change 
was made, — two magistrates, chosen from the Plebeians, 
Office of and called Tribunes of the Plebs, were ap- 
tribune. pointed. These afteru-ards became ten in 
number. They held office for a year, during which time 



THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTEXCE. 141 

their persons were sacred, and they could nulhfy any de- 
cree of the senate that they thought injurious to the Com- 
mons by the word Veto, I forbid if. No one could have 
foreseen how important tliis office would become. 

26. The Plebeians had gained an important step in the 
appointment of tlie tribunes. But there were Laws of the 
still many grievances under which tliey suf- Twelve Tables, 
fered. And one of the most oppressive was that no regular 
code of laws existed. After many stormy debates it was at 
last decided (450 b. c.) that a Council of Ten, called from 
their number Decemvirs, should be appointed to make a 
code of laws, and it was agreed that in the mean time all the 
officers of the government (consuls, tribunes, etc.,) should 
give up their places, and let the decem\-irs control the state. 
The decemvirs appointed for the first year did their work 
well : they embodied the laws of Rome in written form, in 
the famous code of tlie Twelve Tables. 

27. On the expiration of their year's office, all parties 
were so well pleased that it was resolved to conduct of the 
continue the same form of government for decemvirs, 
another year. But the new decemvirate acted ver\^ t}Tanni- 
cally, and when their time came to an end tliey continued to 
hold their power in defiance of the senate and of the people. 
Matters soon fell into so bad a state that the Plebeians se- 
ceded once more, retiring to the Sacred Mount. 

28. This second secession extorted from the Patricians 
the second great charter of Plebeian rights. It what was 
was agreed that the tribunes should be re- &^^^^- 
stored, and that the authorit}^ of the assembly of tlie tribes 
{^Comitia Tributd) should be put on a level with that of the 
Centuries. Two consuls were elected in place of the de- 
cemvirs, 446 B. C. 

29. The Plebeians were, however, still justly dissatisfied ; 
the choice of the chief executive, namely, the Dispute about 
consuls, was made exclusively from the Patri- consuls. 



142 HISTORY OF ROME. 

cians. The Commons now began to claim a share in the 
consulate. This demand was resisted by the Patricians 
with their whole strength ; and when at last the Plebeians 
prevented the raising of levies for military service, the 
Patricians declared that they would rather have no more 
consuls than agree to the admission of the Plebeians to the 
office. 

30. At length the Patricians proposed (444 b. c.) that a 

certain number (first three, afterwards six) of 
Alilitary Tribunes^ who might be chosen equally 
from Patricians and Plebeians, should exercise supreme 
power. In the follo^N^ng year t^'o new magistrates called 
Censors were appointed ; and as these were chosen exclu- 
sively from among the Patricians, it gave that order consid- 
erable additional weight, especially as the censors held the 
power of determining the rank of every citizen, of fixing his 
status in societ}'-, and valuing his taxable property. More- 
over, though in theory the militar}^ tribunes could be elected 
from eitlier order, yet in fact^ such was the ascendency of 
the Patricians that usually only men of their own class were 
chosen ; and it was not till 400 B. c, or about forty years 
after the remodeling of the government, that Plebeians 
were freely elected. 

31. It was at this time that the progress of Rome re- 
Gauiish inva- ccived a great check by an invasion of the 
®^°°' Gauls, who, under the leadership of Brennus, 
pressed southward, overran Etruria, and having defeated the 
Romans on the Allia, captured the city, and burnt almost 
the whole of it, except the Capitol, 390 b. c. The Capitol 
held out for seven months, until the Gauls, tired of the 
siege, agreed to go on receipt of a thousand pounds of gold. 
It is recorded that Brennus increased the stipulated amount 
by the weight of his sword, which he cast into the scale. 
Many stories told by the Roman historians, respecting tlie 
Gaulish capture of Rome, are plainly fictions; but of the 
fact itself there can be no doubt. 



ROMAX CONQUEST OF ITALY. 1 43 



2. EPOCH OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF ITALY (390-266 B. CA 

32. Scarcely had Rome been rebuilt with narrow and 
crooked streets and small dwelling-houses, Plebeian op- 
when the Patricians again asserted the whole P^ession. 

of their claims, and in particular revived the ancient laws 
of debtor and creditor in all their severit}-. The Gallic 
invasions left the Plebeians in a state of great poverty 
and distress, and now the severe measures of the Patricians 
threatened to reduce the whole common people to a state 
of practical slaver}-. The contest came to a crisis in 376 

B. C 

33. At this time two bold and able tribunes of the people, 
Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius, came forward Proposals for 
witli a plan to settle all die dimculties. They reform- 
said there were two evils to be remedied: i. Political in- 
equalit}' ; 2. Material want The new plan met tlie first e\il 
by restoring the consuls as the chief magistrates, and ap- 
pointing that one of the two consuls annually chosen should 
always be a Plebeian. The second evil, namely, the poverty 
of the Plebeians, the new plan proposed to mitigate by pro- 
\'iding, first, that the interest already paid on debts should 
be deducted from the capital, and the residue paid in three 
years ; secondly, that of the pubUc lands, hitherto practical- 
ly monopolized by the rich, no man should hold more than 
500 jugcra^ while the remainder should be distributed in 
small portions among tlie Plebeians as their o\\-n property. 

34. This new plan of a constitution, known as the 
Licinian Rogations, was resisted to the utmost victory of the 
by the Patricians ; but all their efforts proved ^^^^^• 
unavailing against the firmness of the tribunes, who pre- 
vented the election of officers and militar}'- Ie\ies. The 
plan became a law in 367 b. c, and the following year a 

* Kjugeriivi was rather more than half an acre. 



144 HISTORY OF ROME. 

Plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected. xA.ll the other 
offices, dictatorship, censorship, prstorship, etc., were soon 
thrown open to the Commons, — so that at last, after the 
long struggle, perfect political equality was established. 

35. For a century and a half since the expulsion of the 

kin^s, Rome had been a republic, but an 

Democracy. . . ... . ^ , 

aristocratic republic : it was now truly a 
government of the people. From this time begins the 
golden age of Roman politics. Civil concord, to which a 
temple w^as dedicated, brought with it a period of civic 
vktue and heroic greatness. 

36. Up to the period at which we have now arrived, — 
smaiiness of the middle of the 4th century b. c, — the 
the nation. Romans were but a small nation : their terri- 
tOTj included but a few townships on the Tiber, and the 
whole number of adult Roman citizens at the close of the 
5 th centur}' was under 300,000. In the mean time Rome 
was surrounded by pett}^ nationalities that girdled its 
strength ; and its wars thus far had been mainly a " struggle 
for existence."' 

37. With the settlement of political difficulties in the 
Wars for do- middle of the 4th centur}-, we enter on a new 
minion. gj.^ ^f Roman liistor}'. The republic now 
began a series of wars for dominion. These wars were 
with (1) their immediate relatives the Latins ; with (2) their 
more distant relatives, the various other Italian nation- 
alities ; with (3) the Greek settlements in Southern Italy 
aided by P}Trhus, King of Epinis; v/ith (4) tlie Gauls in 
Northern Italy. 

38. Histor}- has been too much occupied vAxh the record 
Meaning of of battles and sieges ; hence we shall not go 
these wars. Jj^^q ^j^g eudlcss and Complicated details of 
these operations. But we must understand in a general way 
that these Roman wars meant a great deal. Before Rome 
could play its grand part in the history of the world's civili- 



ROMAN CONQUEST OF ITALY. 1 45 

zation it was necessary, first of all, that it should become 
a great Nation. A great nation needs an extensive stage 
on which to play its part. Now the wars by which the 
Romans put down the various small and obstructive nation- 
alities of Italy were the clearing of the stage, preliminary 
to the oncoming of that imperial figure, the Mistress of the 
World. 

39. The series of wars against Etruscans, Latins, Sam- 
nites, and Gauls, sometimes singly and some- „ . %- 

' . 1 . . . fi 1 . Samnite wars. 

times m combmation, is usually known m 
Roman history by the general designation of the "Latin 
wars " and the " Samnite wars." These wars filled the 
greater part of the half-century between 343 and 290 b. c. ; 
and the Samnites were the leaders in this onset of the na- 
tions on Rome, the issue of which was to determine whether 
Rome or Samnium should govern Italy. The Romans 
were completely successful ; and extricating themselves by 
their valor from this confused conflict of nations, the Ro- 
mans found themselves masters of Central Italy (290 b. c), 
— Samnites, Latins, etc., all their subjects. 

40. The " Samnite wars " were succeeded by a short 
but brisk war, designated in Roman history war with 
"the war with Pyrrhus and the Greeks in Py"hus. 
Italy." Pyrrhus was an able and enterprising Greek prince 
whom the Greek towns of Southern Italy — fearful of being 
overwhelmed by what they called the " conquering barba- 
rians of the Tiber " — had invited over from his native 
country to help them as champion of a Greek city. 

41. Pyrrhus came over with a force of 25,000 troops 
and 20 elephants. In the first battle (Pan- „ 

dosia, 280 B. c.) the Romans fought stoutly, 
until what they conceived to be gigantic gray oxen (the 
elephants) came thundering down upon them ; so that the 
victory remained with Pyrrhus. In tlie next contest 
also (Asculum, 279 b. c.) Pyrrhus was successful; but 
7 J 



146 HISTORY OF ROME. 

the Romans made him pay so dearly for his triumph that 
he is said to have exclaimed, " Another such victory and I 
am undone ! " Not having succeeded in his main object^ 
P}Trhus quitted Italy and went to Sicily ; but soon after he 
returned, renewed the contest with the Romans, and was 
utterly overthrown at Beneventum, in 275 b. c. 

42. The subjugation of Southern Italy — of all that part 

called Great Greece — soon followed, and at 
the close of the year b. c. 266 Rome reigned 
supreme over the length and breadth of the peninsula of 
Italy, from tlie southern boundary of Cisalpine Gaul to 
the Sicilian Straits, and from the T}Trhenian, or Tuscan, 
Sea to tlie Adriatic. 

43. We must now see how Rome consolidated the power 
Nature of the she had thus won, and try to realize what 
Roman state, manner of nation the Roman state now formed. 
The real governing power was the Roman people, — popidus 
Romanus^ — that is to say, the body of free inhabitants of 
the thirt}--three tribes or parishes north and south of the 
Tiber, which constituted the Roman territory proper, 
together with a considerable number of persons in other 
parts of Italy who, either from being colonists of Roman 
descent or from having had Roman citizenship conferred 
on them, had the privilege of going to Rome and voting at 
tlie Comitia, or Assembly. The possessors of the suffrage 
thus formed a comparatively small bod}^ of men, such as 
might be assembled witli ease in any public square or park, 
and tliese by their votes decided on the affairs of the 
commonwealth, controlling thus the destinies of the whole 
population of Italy, estimated at this time at above 
5,000,000. 

44. In addition to tiie popidus Romaniis there were two 

other classes, — the Italians and the Latins. 

Other classes. _, _ ,. , . , , . . 

Ihe Italians, or j-av/, were the mhabitants of 
t±ie allied and dependent Italian states tliat had submitted 



FOREIGN CONQUEST. 147 

to Rome. These communities were almost all permitted to 
retain their own laws, judges, municipal arrangements, etc. ; 
but they did not possess the Roman franchise, and hence 
had no share in the political affairs of the republic. The 
Latins were those who belonged to cities having the " Latin 
franchise," as it was called, from its having first been given 
to the cities of Latium when conquered. This did not give 
full Roman citizenship, but made it easier to obtain it. 

45. Rome wisely left self-government to all the depen- 
dent and allied states, while she secured her summary of 
sovereignty by three rights which she reser\'ed government, 
to herself: i. She alone made peace or declared war; 2. 
She alone might receive embassies ; 3. She alone might 
coin money. Altogether it was an admirable system, vastly 
superior to the loosely related Grecian states. It was a 
system that made possible for the first time in the world's 
history a great, as well as a free, nation. 

46. Thus far we have been occupied wholly with the ex- 
ternal wars and the internal struggles of the General -sum- 
Romans, and this for the reason that their con- ^^^'^y- 
quests and their political organization were the main things 
that this remarkable people had yet accomplished. It is a 
striking fact that there was not yet even a dawning Roman 
Hterature ; in art, science, philosophy, Rome had done — 
absolutely nothing. But, in fact, it was in the art of govern- 
ing mankind that Roman genius w^as to appear ; and it was 
this that showed itself in these early years, — it was their 
valor, their probity, their patriotism, their political tact, and 
not speculation or literary culture, that distinguished them. 

3. EPOCH OF FOREIGN CONQUEST (266-133 B.C.). 

47. The epoch of Roman history on which we now enter 
covers 133 years, beginning in 266 b. c. and Extent of the 
ending in 133 b. c. This is the era of Rome's p^"°'^- 



148 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



first great foreign conquests, embracing the Punic and Mace- 
donian wars, and lasts down to tlie rise of the civil broils 
under the Gracchi. 




48. In the middle of the 3d century b. c. the great 

maritime power of the Western Mediterranean 

Carthag^e. r-^ ^ r-i 

was Carthage. She was at the head of the 
other Phoenician cities in Africa, numbering about 300, 
with possessions in Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and Spain. 
In government she was a republic ruled by an aristocracy. 
The Carthaginians were devoted to commerce, and had the 
good and the bad traits characteristic of a purely commer- 
cial people. The Romans, who were their rivals and ene- 
mies, represented them as wanting in integrity and honor ; 
hence the ironical phrase to denote treachery. Punka fides 
{Punka from Poz7ii, the Latin form of the name P/icB?tkians), 
or Punic faith. 

49. It was hardly possible tliat tvvro such powers as Car- 



FOREIGX CONQUEST. 1 49 



thage and Rome should not come into collision. And it 

was the more likely, as the island of Sicily lay 

between them, where the Carthaginians had 

large possessions, and where the Greek cities were closely 

connected with the Greek subjects of Rome in Southern 

Italy. 

50. The pretext was not long wanting. The Mamer- 
tines. a body of Campanian mercenaries who origin of first 
had seized the town of Messa^na on the Sicil- P"°^= "^^r- 
ian Straits, being threatened with destruction by the com- 
bined Carthaginians and S}Tacusans, applied for help to 
Rome, and were readily received into her alliance. From 
this resulted the first Funk JJ\zr, which lasted for twent}*- 
three years (264-241 b. c). The independent Greek dry 
of S}Tacuse having very soon changed sides, tlie war was 
between 'the Romans and Syracusans on one side and the 
Carthaginians on the other. 

51. The war was carried on chiefly in and about Sicily. 
The reduction of Agrigentimi (262 b. c.) was 

the first great exploit of tlie Romans. But the 
most remarkable feature of the contest was the wonderfully 
rapid development of a na\y by the Romans. At the be- 
ginning they had no fleet at all, and it is said that they 
took as their model a stranded Carthaginian galley: two 
years afterwards they were able to assemble so powerful a 
na\y that they defeated their enemy in a great sea-fight at 
Mylae, 260 b. c. 

52. Their ^dctories by sea emboldened the Romans to 
send an army across to Africa, and to attack 

their enemy in his own country. But the Ro- ^"^ * 
man army under Reg'ulus was defeated at Tunis, and Regu- 
lus himself was made prisoner (255 b. c). The war was 
then confined to Sicily, where the Carthaginians suffered 
severe defeat at Panor^mus. In the mean time disasters at 
sea befell the Romans, who lost fleet after fleet, until a new 



150 HISTORY OF ROME. 

navy raised by subscription took the sea, and by the victory 
at ^gu'sa reduced the Carthaginians to seek peace, b. c. 
241. The treat}' compelled the Carthaginians to evacuate 
Sicily and tlie adjacent islands, to pay a heavy indemnity, 
and to recognize the independence of Hi'ero, king of Syra- 
cuse. 

53. The island of Sicily, or that part of it which the 
Province of Carthaginians had possessed, was organized 
Sicily. j^-^^Q 3. province, and this fact is notable as being 
the commencement of that new feature in the Roman rule, 
namely, the institution of provincial goz'cr?iviefif, or that gov- 
ernment established by the Romans for their possessions 
outside of Italy. 

54. Having thus triumphed over Carthage, the Romans 
Conquest of tumcd their eyes northward with the \dew of 
Cisalpine Gaul, carrying their' dominion to the Alps. The 
Gauls in the valley of tlie Po (Cisalpine Gaul) took the 
alaim, and began a movement towards Rome. They were, 
however, met by three armies, and w^ere so thoroughly pun- 
ished that in three years all Cisalpine Gaul submitted to 
Rome, 222 B. c. In tlie country were planted two Roman 
colonies. 

55. The Carthaginians felt that they had been deeply 
Carthage pre- "^vrongcd by the Romans, and ever since the 
pares for war. ^losc of the War they had been stud3'ing how 
the injun' done them might be revenged. Among the advo- 
cates of war at Carthage was the powerful Barcine family, 
at tlie head of which was Hamil'car Barca, who had won fame 
in the latter part of the previous war. Under tliis able 
leader the Carthaginians first directed their attention to 
Spain (where they already had a strong foothold) as a fit 
" base of operations " against the Romans. Hamilcar's 
great object in subjugating Spain was to obtain the means 
of attacking the hated rival of his country. His implacable 
animosity against Rome is shown by the well-known tale, 



FOREIGN CONQUEST. 151 

that when he crossed over to Spain in 235 b, c, taking with 
him his son Hannibal, then only nine years old, he made 
him swear at the altar eternal hostility to Rome. Hamilcar 
fell in battle, and was succeeded by his son-in-law Has'dru- 
bal, and when the latter was assassinated, the command of 
the army devolved upon Hannibal. 

56. When, at the age of twenty-six, Hannibal was ap- 
pointed to the command of the Carthaginian Hannibal's 
army in Spain, he carried the Carthaginian campaign, 
line up to the Ebro and besieged Sagun'tum, an ally of Rome. 
The city fell, and Rome immediately declared hostilities. 
The result was the second Punic War, which began in the 
year 218 b. c. Before the Roman army was ready to take 
the field, Hannibal, who was one of the greatest military 
geniuses that ever lived, had crossed the Pyrenees on his 
way to Italy. He tlien proceeded to perform one of the 
most famous exploits on record : with his army he climbed 
over the Alps (218 b. c), losing aboye 30,000 men, burst 
into the plain of Italy, and defeated the Romans in four 
battles, the greatest of which was Cannce, fought in 216 b. c. 

57. In Italy the career of Hannibal was most extraor- 
dinary: for fifteen years (217-202 b. c.) he operations m 
maintained himself in the peninsula, moving ^*^'y- 
hither and thither, keeping seven or eight Roman generals, 
and among them the wary Fa'bius and tlie bold Marcellus, 
continually employed, scattering the Romans like chaff 
wherever he appeared, exhausting the finances of the state, 
and detaching the Italian nationalities frotn their allegiance. 

58. It is probable that Hannibal might have maintained 
himself in Italy for an indefinite time, and Roman strat- 
finally have shattered the commonwealth in ^^^' 
pieces, had it not been that the Romans assumed the 
offensive against Carthage. A vigorous young soldier, 
Pub'lius Scipio, was sent into Spain, which he reduced to 
the condition of a Roman province, thus closing the main 



152 HISTORY OF ROME. 

avenue by which the Carthaginians could send reinforce- 
ments to Hannibal (^216-205 b. c). Hannibal's brother, 
Hasdrubal, managed, indeed, to march from Spain across 
the Alps into Italy (207 b. c.) ; but his force was met and 
defeated, — and the first intimation Hannibal received of 
his brother's arrival in Italy was the sight of that brother's 
bloody head tossed contemptuously into his camp. 

59. In spite of the cutting of his communications, Han- 
ciose of the nibal could readily have maintained himself in 
^^^- Italy ; but now Scipio passed over into Africa, 
and ha\dng defeated the Carthaginians in several battles, so 
terrified the authorities at Carthage that they recalled Han- 
nibal from Italy. The final battle of the war was fought on 
the plain of Zama in Africa, in tlie year 202 b. c. The vic- 
tor}- was ^nth the Romans, and the Carthaginians in conse- 
quence were obliged to agree to a peace on very severe 
terms. Scipio — henceforvi'ard kno^Ti as Scipio Africanus 
— returned home and was honored with the most magnifi- 
cent triumph that had yet been exhibited in the Roman 
capital. 

60. Several years after this time Hannibal had to flee 
Anecdote of from his countr}', and he spent the last years 
Hannibal. ^f |-^-g j'fg "j^ g^^-^ ^^^ Bithyn'ia. By a strange 

coincidence of fortune, his victor, Scipio, had also to go 
into exile, and resided for a while at Ephesus, where Hanni- 
bal was at the time. Many friendly conversations passed 
between them, and in one of these the Roman is said to 
have asked the Carthadnian " whom he thouo:ht the greatest 
general." Hannibal immediately replied, "Alexander; be- 
cause that, with a small body of men, he had defeated very 
numerous armies, and had overnm a great part of the 
world." " And who do you think desen^es the next 
place?" continued the Roman. " P}Trhus," replied the 
other ; " he first taught the method of forming a camp to 
the best advantage." " And whom do you place next to 



FOREIGN CONQUEST. 1 53 

those ? " said Scipio. " Myself,'' said Hannibal ; at which 
Scipio asked, with a smile, " Where, then, would you have 
placed yourself if you had conquered me ? " " Above Al- 
exander," replied the Carthaginian, " above Pyrrhus, and 
above all other generals.*' 

61. An interval of fift}" years separates tlie second from 
the third and last war with Cartilage, and sev- Third Punic 
eral important events that we shall have to re- ^^• 

late happened in the interim ; but it will give us a clearer 
view if we close here the whole histor}- of Rome's dealings 
with Carthage. 

62. The third Punic war was, on the part of Rome, 
utterly causeless. The second had made Blame of the 
Carthage a dependent ally of Rome, but still ^^'■• 

left it free in its internal government. Now, a consid- 
erable part)^ at Rome were bent on reducing Cardiage 
to a position of complete subjugation. At tlie head of 
this part}^ was Porcius Cato, the censor, who then swayed 
the decisions of the Roman senate. So bitterly hostile 
was he to Carthage, that for years he closed eveiy speech 
he made — no matter on wdiat subject — with die words, 
Ddm'da est Carthago., " Carthage must be destroyed 1 " 

63. The humbled Carthaginians made every submission, 
yielding up their arms, their ships, and dieir Roman harsh- 
munitions of war, and they even offered to °^^^- 

give up their own government and become subjects of 
Rome. When, however, Rome proposed to raze their sea- 
side cit}% and send them to live inland,'a wail of indigna- 
tion and despair went up from" Carthage, and the inhabitants 
determined to sacrifice their lives radier than submit to the 
savage mandate. 

64. The third Punic War began in 149 b. c. The 
" Siege of Cartilage " which lasted four years, siege of Car- 
and was conducted on the part of the Romans *^^s^- 

by the younger Scipio, known as Scipio ^-Emilia'nus, was the 
7* 



154 HISTORY OF ROME. 

one event of this final struggle. Carthage was without 
ships, without allies, almost ^nthout arms ; yet she main- 
tained the contest with the courage of despair : the women 
gave their tresses to make bowstrings, and the men poured 
out their blood most lavishly. But it was all in vain. The 
city was taken, and, being set on fire, the flames continued 
to rage for seventeen days. Thus was Carthage with its 
walls and buildings, the habitations of 700,000 people, razed 
to its foundations. The Carthaginian territory' was then 
made into the Roman Province of Africa^ under a proconsul, 
and the seat of government was fixed at Utica (b. c. 146). 

65. It is related that when Scipio beheld Carthage in 
Anecdote of flames his soul was softened by reflections on 
Scipio. ^g instabilit}' of fortune, and he could not 
help anticipating a time when Rome herself should expe- 
rience the same calamities as those which had befallen her 
unfortunate competitor. He vented his feelings by quoting 
from Homer the lines in which Hector predicts the fall of 
Troy : — 

" Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates ; • 

(How my heart trembles, while my tongue relates !) 
The day when thou, imperial Troy, must bend, 
And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end." 

66. Meantime tlie Roman dominion had been enlarged 
Subjugation bv the annexation of Macedonia and Greece. 

of macedon 

and Greece. Wliilc the latc war was going on, the ruler of 
:Macedon, King Philip V., became embroiled mth Rome, 
owing to his haWng made a treaty with Hannibal. The 
Romans made a campaign against Philip, and in this con- 
test some of the Greek states sided with Macedon and some 
with Rome. The result was that in the battle of C\-nos- 
ceph'alae, in Thessaly, 197 b. c, the power of Macedon was 
broken and Philip had to become a dependent ally of Rome. 
A little later the Macedonians were completely crushed at 
Pydna (168 b. c), and came still more under the power of 



FOREIGN CONQUEST. 1 55 

Rome. In the year 146 b. c. (same year as the destruc- 
tion of Carthage) Corinth was captured and burned. No 
further resistance was offered to the victorious Romans, 
and Greece was made into a Roman province under the 
name of Achaia. 

67. At the commencement of the period of conquest 
(266 — 133 B. c), the Roman dominion was con- Review of 

~ 1 1 -irTi -1 • Rome's con- 

fined to the pennisula of Italy ; at its close it quests. 

extended over the whole of Southern Europe 'from the 
shores of the Atlantic to the straits of Constantinople, over 
the chief IMediterranean islands, and over a portion of 
North Africa, while farther east, in Egypt, Asia Minor, and 
Syria, her influence was paramount. At tlie commencement 
of the period Rome was merely one of the " Great Powers " 
of the world as it then was, — that is, she ranked with Car- 
thage, Macedonia, and the kingdom of the Seleucidas ; at 
its close she was clearly the sole Great Power left. 

68. The Roman dominion now became a duality, — it 
was " Italy and the Provinces." The politi- Rule of the 
cal state of Italy was that described in the last Provinces, 
section ; but the addition of the conquered countries result- 
ed in the new feature of Roman rule called Provincial gop- 
ernmejit. Retaining their native habits, religion, laws, etc.. 
the inhabitants of every province were governed by a mili- 
tary president, sent from Rome, with a staff of officials. 
The provincials were required to pay taxes in money and 
kind ; and these taxes were farmed out by the censors to 
Roman citizens, who, under the name o'f Publicans^ settled 
in the various districts of the provinces. Thus, like a net- 
work proceeding from a center, the political system of the 
Romans per^^aded the mass of millions of human beings in- 
habiting the shores of the Mediterranean ; and a vast popu- 
lation of various races and languages were all bound to- 
gether by the cohesive power of Roman rule. 

69. The luster of the Roman power and the glory of the 



156 HISTORY OF ROME. 

Roman name were now at their height. The eyes of all 
Grandeur of the world were now on Italy, the young re- 
^°'"^- public of the West. Into Rome all talents, all 

riches, flowed. What a grand thing in those days to be a 
Roman citizen ; so that, wherever one walked, — in Spain, 
in Africa, even in once proud Athens, — he was followed, 
feasted, flattered ! W^hat a career was opened to those who 
wished for wealth or aspired to fame ! But in the very sun- 
burst of Rome's glory, the germs of decay were ripening. 

70. On the Romans themselves the effect of their foreign 
Effect of con- conquests was both good and bad ; but per- 
quests. 1-j^pg ^i-^g gyjj outweighed the good. Let us 
glance at both sides of the shield. 

71. The wealth poured into Rome by the conquest of 

Carthage, of Greece, and the East, and the con- 

Pubhc works. . , , , 1 • 1 r 1 

siderable revenue derived from the permanent 
taxation of the provinces, enabled the Romans to carry out 
a great system of public works. Throughout Italy splendid 
militar}' roads which remain to this day were built, the 
pro\inces were traversed by imperial highways, and fine 
stone bridges were thrown across the Tiber. In Rome 
splendid public buildings were erected, the city was sewered, 
the streets were paved (174 b. c), two new aqueducts (the 
Marcian, built in 144 b. c, at a cost of $ 10,000,000) were 
constructed ; and it may be noted that the Consul P. Scipio 
Nasi'ca, in 159 b. c, set up in Rome a public dep'sydra, or 
water-clock, the citizens having for six centuries gone on 
without any accurate means of knowing the time by night 
as well as day. 

72. The effect on Rome of the conquest of Greece and 
Influence of the Hcllenized East was very marked. Greek 
Greece. rhetoricians, scholars, tragedians, flute-players, 
and philosophers in large numbers took up their abode 
in Rome. The cit}- swarmed with Greek schoolmasters. 
Greek tutors and philosophers, who, even if they were not 



FOREIGN CONQUES: 



slaves, were as a nile accounted as sen-ants, were now per- 
manent inmates in the palaces of Rome ; people speculated 
in them, and tliere is a statement that the sum of 200,000 
sesterces ($ 10,000) was paid for a Greek literan,- slave of 
the first class. 

73. The stimulus of Greek literan,- culture led to native 
production, and in the 2d century b. c. we pirst litera- 
have the beginning of tliat Latin literature ^"'■^• 
which we still read. Though the great period of Roman 
letters did not come till a century after this time (^age of 
Augustus), 5-et there arose a number of writers of no ordi- 
nar}- power. Among these should be mentioned Ennius, 
the father of Roman poetr}^ ; Plautus, his contemporar}-, a 
man of rich poetic genius ; the elder Cato, the first prose 
writer of note ; and Terence, tlie most famous of the comic 
poets. 

74. While the Romans were in some respects benefited 
bv contact with the superior thou2:h decavinof 

- .„ 11,-, " Evil effects. 

culture of Greece, they also learned a great 

deal that was debasing. They became effeminate, luxurious, 

and corrupt in morals ; marriage was not respected ; the 

old Roman faith waned, and it was said that t^'o augurs 

could not meet in the street witliout laughing in each other's 

face. 

75. The political system of Rome now began to lead to 
a dreadful state of public corruption. The Political cor- 
Roman government was de\4sed for the rule of ^"P^ioi^- 

a city : all power was in the hands of the civic voters, and 
when there came to be great prizes, in the way of great 
offices at home and abroad, the voters began to find that 
their votes were won±i something, and unblushing briber}- 
and corruption became common. 

76. The demands of the large planters and merchants 
led to a great extension of tlie slave-trade. Growth of 
All lands and all nations were laid under con- slavery. 



158 HISTORY OF ROME. 

tribution for slaves, but the places where they were chiefly 
captured were Syria and the interior of Asia Minor. It is 
probable that at the period at which we have now arrived 
(middle of the 2d century b. c.) there were t\velve million 
slaves against five million free inhabitants in tlie Italian 
peninsula, — a most lamentable state of tilings ! 

77. In addition to the slaves, Italy became filled up with 
Corruption of ^ motlcy parasitic population from Asia and 
^^°°^- Africa and all the conquered lands, — and the 
result of this intermixture soon appeared in a marked degen- 
eracy in the Roman race itself. 

78. The decay of old Roman virtue became at the same 

time apparent in a great increase of luxur)\ 
This displayed itself in houses, villas, pleasure- 
gardens, fish-ponds, dress, food, and drink. Extravagant 
prices — as much as 100,000 sesterces ($ 5000) — were paid 
for an exquisite cook. Costly foreign delicacies and wines 
were affected, and the Roraans in their banquets vied \vith 
one another in displaying their hosts of slaves ministering 
to luxur}', their bands of musicians, their dancing-girls, their 
purple hangings, their carpets glittering with gold or picto- 
rially embroidered, and their rich silver plate. 

79. In the midst of the system there were not wanting 

some noble patterns of the old Roman tvTDC, 

Old Romans. ^ i i i i ^ ^ " \ 

among whom should be named Cato,* who 
kept up a constant protest all his life against the growing 
luxury of his countr}Tnen, and died declaring that they 
were a degenerate race. Such men were, however, rare 
exceptions ; and we shall hereafter see that the evil system 
already operative in the 2d century went on increasing, 
till finally, a centur}' aftersvards, it resulted in the total 
subversion of tlie republic. 

* Porcius Cato, frequently surnamed Cato the Censor, was born B. c. 
234. He distinguished himself in the Punic wars and in various public 
services, but he was still more noted for his pure morality and strict 
virtue. He died in 149 b. c, at the age of eight}--five. 



CIVIL STRIFE. 159 



4. EPOCH OF CIVIL STRIFE (133-27 B.C.;). 

80. The picuire just given of the state of Roman societ}^ 
in the last half of the 2d centiirv' b. c. prepares Bad state of 
us for the period of ci^"il strife on which we now society, 
enter. A number of causes had resulted in the growth of 
an aristocracy founded purely on wealth ; the old division 
of societ}' into patricians and plebeians had ceased, and 
there arose a still worse division into classes, — the rich 
and the poor. The old peasant proprietors of Italy had 
become practically extinct, and their place was supphed 
by hordes of slaves. The cities, and especially Rome, 
were filled by vast masses of people, not living, as the 
traders, artisans, and laborers of our cities do, b}' honest 
industn^, but subsisting in noisy idleness upon the price 
of their votes. Roman society, in fact, had ceased to have 
any middle class, and was divided between two extremes, 
— grandees and paupers. 

81. The cause of the poor against the rich vras taken up 
by a noble young tribune of the people named 

Tiberius Gracchus. Tiberius and his after- 
wards distinguished yoimger brother Caius (the two being 
known in history as the Gracchi) were sons of a noble Ro- 
man matron, Cornelia, daughter of the great Scipio -\fri- 
canus. 

82. Tiberius Gracchus proposed a land-law (agrarian 
law), which was practicallv a re\-ival of the 

y. . . . , .,..,,^ . ,,. Agrariaxi law. 

Liaman Imv : it limited the amount of public 
land tliat could be held by any one individual to 500 jugera, 
and provided for the distribution of the rest in small home- 
steads. The aristocracy immediately raised a storm, and 
induced another tribune to veto the measure. Now, accord- 
ing to the Roman code, no proposal could become law 
unless all the tribimes were unanimous. Gracchus then 
secured a popular vote expelling his colleague from the 



l60 HISTORY OF ROME. 

tribuneship, and the land-law was passed by the people, 
B. c. 133. In the mean time, however, Gracchus's year of 
office expired, and he came up for re-election. The nobles 
resolved to prevent this by violence. 

83. Gracchus, learning this, bade his friends arm them- 

selves with staves ; and when the people began 
to inquire the cause of this, he put his hand to 
his head, intimating that his life was in danger. Some of 
his enemies ran to the senate and reported that Tiberius 
openly demanded a crown. A body of the aristocrats 
with their clients and dependents then rushed among the 
unarmed crowd, and murdered Gracchus with 300 of his 
adherents, — 133 b. c. 

84. Tiberius Gracchus was dead, but his work remained ; 
A^arian that is to sa)^, the measure which he had pro- 
struggie. posed was law, and the commissioners intrusted 
with the task of allotting the lands prosecuted their labors 
for tw^o or three years. The nobles, however, obstructed the 
work as much as possible, so tliat bet^-een them and the 
champions of the people there was a continuous struggle. 

85. This struggle became still more fierce when Caius 
The younger Gracchus, ten years after the death of his 
Gracchus. brotlicr, claimed and obtained the tribuneship, 
and then took up that brotlier's work. The agitation for 
tlie agrarian law was renewed, an enactment was made for 
a monthly distribution of com to the city poor, and vari- 
ous other reforms were proposed by him. After holding 
the tribuneship for two years, however, he lost the office 
through the intrigues of his opponents. The nobles were 
determined to crush Gracchus ; accordingly, at one of the 
public assemblies they attacked the partisans of the popular 
leader, and there ensued a bloody combat (121 b. c.) in 
which 3000 of his adherents were slain. Gracchus himself 
fled into a wood across the Tiber ; but, being pursued, he 
chose to die by the hands of a faithful slave rather than 
fall into the power of his enemies. 



CIVIL STRIFE. 



l6l 



86. The ill-will between the nobles and the people con- 
tinued just as bitter after the death of Grac- RiseofMarius 
chus j and matters finally shaped themselves in ^'^^ Suiia. 
such a way that the nobles, or senatorial party, came to be 
represented by a leader named Sulla, and the democracy, or 
Commons, by another called Marius. These men came to 
prominence in the course of two or three wars in which 
Rome was engaged for twenty-five or thirty years after the 
time of which we have been speaking ; and finally they ac- 
quired such power as to bring on a civil strife that deluged 
Italy with blood. 

87. The wars just referred to were : the Jugur thine war 
(ill -106 B. c), the war against the Cimbri wars of the 
(113-101 B.C.), and the Social war (90-89 period. 

B. c), with the details of which we need not concern our- 
selves ; but the fourth contest was of more moment, and 
needs notice here. This was tlie Mithridatic war. 



To ILLUSTRATE 

THRADATIC 
WARS 




'^^^RAMEA17.13^ 



1 62 HISTORY OF ROME. 

88. Mithrida'tes, King of Pontus, a bold and able sol- 
Design of dier, formed tlie design of uniting the Asiatic 
Mithridates. states and Greece in a vast confederacy against 
the Roman dominion. He began by causing about 80,000 
Romans who dwelt in the cities of Asia Minor to be massa- 
cred in one day (88 b. c). He then invaded Greece. 

8^ The command in diis important war was eagerly 
Mithridatic souglit by botli Marius and Sulla. Sulla pre- 
^^- vailed ; he was elected consul and put in com- 

mand. Marius, being chagrined at this, succeeded in 
ha\-ing the popular party set aside Sulla. But the aristo- 
cratic general marched to Rome and compelled Marius to 
flee into Africa. Sulla tlien set out for Greece, all of which 
submitted to liim, the army of ^Mithridates being defeated 
(86-84 B.C.). 

90. During the absence of Sulla, Marius returned to Italy. 
Marian mas- Entering Rome in 86 b. c. he filled the entire 
sacres, ^^^. ^Axh. slaughter, and in particular he caused 
the murder of the leading senators that had supported liis 
rival. Marius then caused himself to be proclaimed con- 
sul without going through an election ; but a fortnight later 
he died. 

91. Notwithstanding the death of Marius, the Marian 
Suii^-s mas- part}' still Continued in power. Sulla, hearing 
sacres. ^f '^^y^ succcsscs, hastily concludcd a peace 
with Mitiiridates, and hurried to Italy (83 b. c). .\fter a 
severe struggle, Sulla utterly overthrew the ^Marians. The 
blood of massacre then flowed a second time, — in a yet 
greater stream. Lists of proscribed persons, embracing all 
who belonged to the people's part}-, were published every 
day, and the porch of Sulla's house was full of heads. 

92. Ha\*ing put down all his enemies, Sulla caused him- 
Suiia's career sclf to be proclaimed dictator for an unlimited 
and death. ^y^^. (^^ g_ (^ y jjg then proceeded to re-or- 
ganize the government wholly in the interest of die aristo- 



CIVIL STRIFE. 163 



cratic part}'' ; but to the great surprise of ever}- one he three 
years afterwards resigned his power and retired to private 
life. Sulla died in 78 b. c. ; he was honored with a mag- 
nificent funeral, and a monument with the following epitaph 
■«Titten b}' himself : " I am Sulla the Fortunate, who in 
the course of ray life have surpassed both friends and ene- 
mies ; the former by the good, the latter by the e\'il, I have 
done them." In the ci\il wars carried on bet\veen Marius 
and Sulla 150,000 Roman citizens, including 200 senators, 
perished. 

93. We have now arrived at a period in Roman history 
when all the interest centers in the struggles of struggle of 

a few ambitious men for supreme power. The factions, 
grand days of the republic were over, and a war of factions 
had begun. This could end only in anarchy, and when a 
republic falls into anarchy, a supreme ruler is soon wel- 
comed as a deUverer from its horrors. The only question 
now was who in Rome w^as to be that ruler. 

94. After the death of Sulla, the most prominent figure 
among all the men of the aristocratic part}- Rise of Pom- 
was Cneius Pompe}-, who had distinguished p^^- 
himself as a lieutenant of Sulla, and afterwards won renown 
by his management of several important matters in which 
Rome was engaged, — especially in the suppression of a 
formidable revolution in Spain under a very able leader 
named Sertorius (77-72 b. c), and in stamping out a fire 
of revolt kindled by Spar'tacus, the leader of a band of 
gladiators, who, joined by a large force of discontented 
spirits, kept Italy in alarm for two or three years (73-71 
E. c). These exploits made Pompey a popular favorite, 
and in the year 70 b. c. he was rewarded by being made 
consul along -^ith a rich senator named Crassus. 

95. At the expiration of his year of office he retired 
to private life, but was soon called upon to His doings ia 
suppress a formidable combination of pirates *^® ^^^** 



1 64 HISTORY OF ROME. 

who infested the Mediterranean Sea and had their head- 
quarters in Cilicia (in Asia Minorj. This task he accom- 
pHshed in three months. These triumphs, aided by his 
pohtical influence, enabled Pompey to procure the command 
in the war against JMithridates, who had renewed his scheme 
of conquering the Eastern Roman pro\*inces. He was 
given powers such as never had been delegated to any 
Roman general. This war lasted for two years (66-64 
B. c), and was marked by a series of brilliant triumphs for 
Pompey. He utterly crushed Mithridates (who died by 
self-administered poison), as well as his son-in-law Tigra'nes, 
subdued Phoenicia, made S)Tia a Roman province, and took 
Jerusalem. Thus with the glory of having subjugated and 
settled the East he returned to Rome (62 b. c), where a 
magnificent triumph awaited him. He was in a position to 
make himself military sovereign of the Roman world, if he 
chose to avail liimself of his opportunity. We must now see 
what had been passing in Rome in the mean while. 

96. There seem to have grown up, after the death of 
The four fac- Sulla, four factions in Rome : the " oligarchi- 
tions. (.^1 faction," consisting of the small number 
of families the chiefs of which directed the senate, and in 
fact governed the republic ; the " aristocratic faction," com- 
prising the mass of the senators anxious to obtain the power 
usurped by a few of their colleagues ; the " Marian part}%" 
including all those whose families had been prosecuted by 
Sulla, and who now began to rally, and aspire to power ; -the 
"militan- faction," embracing a crowd of old officers of 
Sulla, who, ha\'ing squandered the fortunes they had gained 
under him, were eager for some revolution that might give 
them the opportunity to improve their condition. 

97. At the head of the oligarchical faction was Pom- 
Leader of the P^y i t)ut during his absence in Asia its rep- 
oiigarchy. resentative was Marcus Tul'lius Cicero (bom 
106 B. c), who had established his reputation as the first 



CIVIL STRIFE. 165 



orator in Rome. He had risen through various offices to 
the praetorship, and at the time Pompey left for the East 
aspired to be consul. He did not himself belong to a 
noble family, but still he made himself the champion of the 
oligarchy. Though vain and boastful, he was a virtuous 
and patriotic man. 

98. The leader of the aristocratic faction was Crassus, 
formerly the colleague of Pompey in the con- of the aris- 
sulship, now his . personal rival. He was a tocracy. 
man of no great abilit}', but his position and his immense 
wealth made him influential. (After prodigious expendi- 
tures, he died worth $ io,oco,ooo.) 

99. The leader of the third, or ^larian part}-, was a man 
six years voun^er than Pompev or Cicero, who, 

,. •: . ' , .® , . .t ' ,. - ' Julius C^sar. 

distniguished m youth for his accomplishments 
and his extravagance, rose in the year 65 b. c. to the office 
of edile. This was Caius Julius Caesar, — a man of pre- 
eminent abilit}', one of the greatest that ever lived. He 
was tlie nephew of Marius, and now stood forward as the 
leader of the IMarian part}-. He was of an old patrician 
family, and took up the cause of the people to seiwe his 
own ends, 

100. The leader of the militar}" faction was Catiline, who 
had been one of the ablest and most ferocious conspiracy of 
of Sulla's officers. ' He had a large following Catiime. 

of debauched young patricians and ruined militar}- men, 
who thought they would better their fortunes by making 
Catiline consul. Cicero was his rival, 'and, receiving the 
support of tlie senators, was elected. Enraged at his defeat, 
Catiline formed a conspiracy of which the murder of Cicero 
and the burning of Rome were parts. A woman betrayed 
the plot to Cicero, who denounced Catiline with such fier}- 
eloquence that he had to flee from Rome. With a band 
of confederates he attempted to reach Gaul ; but he was 
overtaken in Etruria and slain, 62 b. c. 



1 66 HISTORY OF ROME. 

101. If Pompey had been really a great and clear-sighted 
man, he could, on his return from the East, have easily put 
Position of himself at the head of affairs. But he was 
Pompey. ^q^- j-gally such. He was, in fact, rather a lucky 
general than a great statesman. The oligarchic part}^ began 
to distrust liim, and as the senate under the lead of Cato 
refused to ratify his measures in Asia, he threw himself into 
opposition and went over to the popular part\'. This brought 
him into close connection witli Csesar. 

102. Caesar and Pompey, finding that they agreed in 
First trium- many of their views, resolved to unite their 
virate. forces. To Cement their union more closely, 
Caesar gave his only daughter Julia in marriage to Pompey. 
For various reasons it v%-as found desirable to admit Crassus 
to their political partnership, and thus was formed (60 b. c.) 
that famous coalition known in Roman history as the " First 
Triumvirate." The object of Cssar and Pompey was to 
thwart the senatorial party in every way, and \\deld all 
power themselves. 

103. The formation of the trium\drate was followed by 
Elevation of the election of Caesar to the consulship (59 b. c.) ; 
Caesar. ^^^ whcu his year of office expired he ob- 
tained for himself the government of Gaul for five years, 
and then for another five. This was probably the great ob- 
ject of Caesar's desires. No doubt he was already brooding 
over the design of making himself master of Rome ; and for 
this purpose he would need an army. 

104. During the years 5S-50 b. c. Caesar made eight 
His Gallic campaigns in Gaul, forming the remarkable 
campaigns. series of Operations which he afterwards de- 
scribed "u-ith such pointed st}'le in his Commentaries. 

The prominent points in these campaigns are : He arrests the emi- 
gration of the Helvetii ; expels the Germans under Ariovistus (58 B. c.) ; 
completes the conquest of Gaul b}- subduing the Belgae (57 b. c), and 
the Aquita'ni (56 B. c.) ; invades Britain twice (in 55 and 54 B.C.); 



CIVIL STRIFE. 




1 68 HISTORY OF ROME. 

penetrates into Germany ; overthrows the Gauls, who revolt repeatedly; 
conquers Vercingetorix, and entirely subdues the country (53-51 B. c). 

105. The result of his eight years' campaigning was that, 
Position of i^^ ^^e Spring of 50 b. c, Csesar was able to 
Cffisar. X2^i^ up his residence in Cisalpine Gaul, leav- 
ing the 300 tribes beyond the Alps, which he had conquered 
by such bloody means, not only pacified, but even attached 
to himself personally. His army, which included many 
Gauls and Germans, was so devoted to him that it would 
have marched to the end of the world in his sen-ice. 

106. Let us now inquire as to the other two members 
Pompey and of the triumvirate. During Caesar's absence, 
Crassus. Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls for 
the year 55 b. c. ; and when their own year of office had ex- 
pired both obtained important commands : Pompey received 
the government of Spain, as proconsul, for five years, and 
Crassus a similar appointment over the East Soon after 
this, Crassus was murdered in Parthia ; so that the tri- 
umvirate became a duumvirate, or league of tiuo men, — 
Caesar and Pompey. 

107. Now bet^'een these two men there had for some 
Rivalry of time been a ^ro-^ing coldness. It was said 

Caesar and , ^ 1 1 1 i 1 

Pompey. that CaEsar was a man who could brook no 

equal, and Pompey a man who could sutler no superior. A 
feeling of rivalr}- having once arisen, naturally grew till 
Caesar and Pompey became the bitterest enemies. Pompey 
went over to the aristocratic party to which he had origi- 
nally belonged, and ha\'ing been made sole consul for the 
year 52 b. c, he began to exert his great influence against 
Caesar. In this he was supported by the nobles, who 
dreaded Caesar's immense power. 

108. As the period of Caesar's command would expire in 
New compii- the year 49 e. c, he had determined to obtain 
cations. |-]^g consulship for the year 48 b. c, since other- 
wise he would become a private citizen. Accordingly he 



CIVIL STRIFE. 1 6a 



demanded, though absent, to be permitted to put hhnself 
in the lists for tlie consulate. But it was proposed, 
through the influence of Pompey, that Caesar should lay 
down his command by the 13 th of November, 50 b. c. This 
was an unreasonable demand ; for his term of government 
over Gaul had another year to run, and if he had gone to 
Rome as a private man to sue for tlie consulship, tliere 
can be no doubt that his life would have been sacrificed. 
Caesar, still anxious to keep tlie peace, offered, at the be- 
ginning of the year 49 b. c, to lay down his command if 
Pompey would do the same ; but tliis the senate refused 
to accede to, and a motion was passed tliat Ccesar should 
disband his army by a certain day, and that if he did not 
do so, he should be regarded as an enemy of the state. 

109. Ccesar promptly took his resolve : he would appeal 
to the arbitrament of arms. He had the en- 
tlmsiastic devotion of his soldiers, tlie great 

mass of whom, being provincials or foreigners, cared very 
little for the country whose name they bore. Accordingly, 
in Januar}^, 49 b. c, he advanced from his headquarters at 
Ravenna to the little stream, the Ru'bicon, which separated 
his own province and command from Italy. The crossing 
of this river was in realit}^ a declaration of war against the 
republic ; and it is related that, upon arriving at the Ru- 
bicon, Csesar long hesitated whether he should take this 
irrevocable step. After pondering many hours he at lengtli 
exclaimed, " The die is cast ! " and plunged into the river. 

110. Pompey concluded not to attempt to defend Italy, 
but to retire upon the East, where he would Retreat of 
gather a great anny and then return to over- Po^P^y- 
whelm the "usuiper." Accordingly he retreated to Greece. 

111. In sixty days Caesar made himself master of all 
Ital}^ Then marching to Rome he had him- csesar master 
self appointed dictator and consul for the year °^ Italy. 

48 B. c. He showed masterly statesmanship, and soon 



I/O HISTORY OF ROME. 

brought tlie general current of opinion completely over to 
his side. 

112. Meantime, Pompey had gathered a powerful army 
Battle of i^ Thessaly, and thither Caesar with his legions 
Pharsaiia. proceeded against him. The decisive battle 
between the two mighty rivals was fought at Pharsa'lia, in 
48 B. c. It resulted in the utter defeat of Pompey ; and as 
it left CcEsar the foremost man in the Roman world, it must 
be regarded as one of the great decisive battles of history. 

113. Pompey, after liis defeat, sought refuge in Egypt; 
Fate of ^^^ ^^ "^^'^s assassinated by the orders of Ptol- 
Pompey. ^m^, when seeking to land on the coast of that 
country. Caesar, who followed in pursuit, did not hear of 
his death until his arrival in Alexandria, where messengers 
from Ptolemy brought him Pompey's head. Caesar, who 
was both a generous man and a compassionate foe, turned 
with horror from the spectacle, and with tears in his eyes 
gave orders that the head should be consumed with the 
costliest spices. 

114. At Alexandria Csesar became bewitched by Cleopa- 
Caesar in the tra, the young, beautiful, and fascinating queen 
East. Qf Eg}-pt. He even mixed himself up Avith a 
quarrel that was going on between her and her younger 
brother Ptolemy, to whom, according to the custom of the 
country^ she was married, and with whom she shared the 
throne. Tliis intermeddling led Caesar, who had but a 
small force with him, into conflict with the troops of the 
king. A fierce battle was fought in the city. Caesar suc- 
ceeded in firing the EgA^ptian fleet ; but unfortimately the 
flames extended to the celebrated Librar}- of the city of 
Alexandria, and the greater part of the magnificent collec- 
tion of manuscripts was burnt Caesar was finally success- 
ful : Ptolemy was killed, and Cleopatra was made queen of 
Egjpt From Alexandria Gfisar marched into Pontus to 
attack Phama'ces, son of Mithridates, whom he subdued so 



CIVIL STRIFE. 171 



quickly that he described the campaign in the most laconic 
despatch ever penned: Veni^ vidi, via, — "I came, I saw, 
I conquered." 

115. The Pompeian forces that escaped from Pharsalia 
had established themselves in the Roman caesar's final 
province of Africa. They were commanded victory. 

by Scipio and Cato. Caesar having settled matters in the 
East now proceeded against this force, which he utterly 
destroyed at Thapsus, early in the year 46 b. c. Scipio and 
Cato killed themselves. One more rally the Pompeians 
made in Spain, but they were defeated by Cassar in the 
decisive battle of Munda (March, 45 b. c). 

116. Caesar returned to Rome after the battle of Thapsus, 
the master of the Roman dominion. The csesar and 
republic went out when Cato fell upon his ^^^ state, 
sword at Utica ; the monarchy came in with the triumphal 
entry of Caesar into Rome in the summer of 46 b. c. It is 
true Caesar was not king (rex) in fiame, but he was so in sub- 
stance. His position as chief of the state was this : he was in- 
vested with the dictatorship for ten years, — an arrangement 
changed soon aftenvards to perpetual dictator, — and was 
hailed with the title of Imperator for life. The latter title, 
Imperator (meaning Com7nander), was one which belonged 
under the republic to the victorious general ; but it was a 
temporary title, always laid aside with the surrender of mili- 
tary command. Caesar was allowed to use it in a special 
way and permanently, and in his case it had much the mean- 
ing of the term Efnperor^ — a word which is simply I?fiperator 
cut short. 

117. Julius Cssar was a strong, clear-sighted man, who 
plainly perceived that the old political system His views and 
of Rome had hopelessly broken down. He character, 
believed that peace and prosperity could come only under 
the firm and just rule of one man. He obtained power by 
overriding the laws, but he designed to 2isc this power to the 



1/2 HISTORY OF ROME. 

best ends. " I will not," he said in one of his speeches, 
" renew the massacres of Sulla and Marius, the very remem- 
brance of which is shocking to me. Now that my enemies 
are subdued, I will lay aside the sword, and endeavor sole- 
ly by my good offices to gain over tliose who continue to 
hate me." 

118. Faithful to this promise, he pardoned all who had 
The work he bornc arms against him, and, by making no 
^^^- distinction of parties, labored, and with suc- 
cess, to bring about an " era of good feeling." He instituted 
a vigorous and honest administration of the provinces ; he 
encouraged trade and agriculture ; embellished Rome with 
temples, theaters, and public places ; undertook to drain the 
Pontine marshes and to dig a new bed for the Tiber; 
refoniied the calendar; and projected a gigantic series of 
designs for improving and extending the empire he had 
acquired. Considering that from the time of his return 
to Rome down to his death there was but a brief interval 
of t^vo years, it is wonderful what he accomplished. 

119. There can be no doubt that the Romans were well 
Feelings of the Satisfied to be under the rule of CjEsar. The 
Romans. republic was a mere name, for liberty had ex- 
pired when the Gracchi were murdered, and subsequent 
dissensions were merely contests for power between differ- 
ent factions. Hence the Roman people, weary of revolu- 
tion, were quite content to find peace under the just though 
absolute rule of one master. 

120. It is important to recognize this as the real state 
Real cause of of public feeling, because we shall now have 

Caesar's assas- ^ , r^ t ^^ • ^- ^ • *• 

sination. to scc that Cffisar fell a victim to assassination, 

and it might be thought that his overthrow was the people's 
revolt from monarchical rule. But in truth it was the act of 
a small knot of conspirators who, with the cry of " Liberty 
and the Republic " in their mouths, did away with the Im- 
perator to serve their own ends. 



CIVIL STRIFE, 173 



121. The chiefs of the conspiracy were Caius Cassius 
and Marcus Junius Brutus. Both had received The conspir- 
great favors from Casar ; but they thought they ^'^'^' 

had not been honored enough, and they were intensely 
jealous of the dictator's greatness. These were joined by 
other malcontents, and tlie plotters swelled their ranks by 
representing that Caesar designed to assume the diadem 
and the title of king; so tliat the conspiracy finally in- 
cluded about sixt}' senators. 

122. It is not certainly known whether or not Caesar 
thought of taking the name of king. It is csesar's am- 
known, however, that the consul, Mark An- ^^^1°°- 
tony, at the feast of the Luperca^lia in the year 45 b. c, 
offered a regal cro^Ti to the dictator : he refused it, — it is 
said because he saw the people showed displeasure, — and 
Antony had it entered in the public acts, "that by the 
command of the people, he, as consul, had offered the name 
of king to Caesar, perpetual dictator ; and that C^sar would 
not accept of it." 

123. The plot ripened into a determination to assassinate 
Caesar, and the conspirators fixed on the Ides His assassi- 
(i. e. 15th) of March as the time of putting the nation, 
design into execution. Rumors of the plot got abroad, and 
Caesar was strongly urged not to attend the senate. But he 
disregarded the warnings which were given him. As soon 
as Caesar had taken his place, he was surrounded by the 
senatorial conspirators, one of whom, pretending to urge 
some request, seized his toga with both hands and pulled it 
violently over his arms. Then Casca, who was behind, 
drew a weapon and grazed his shoulder with an ill-directed 
stroke. Caesar disengaged one hand and snatched at the 
hilt, exclaiming, " Cursed Casca^ what means this ^ " " Help ! " 
cried Casca, and at the same moment the conspirators 
aimed each his dagger at the victim. Caesar for an instant 
defended himself ; but when he perceived the steel flashing 




174 HISTORY OF ROME. 

in the hand of Brutus (Marcus Junius), he exclaimed, " What! 

ihou too J Brutus!''^ {Ei tu, 

Bru'te f) and drawing his robe 

over his face he made no further 

resistance. The assassins stabbed 

him through and through ; and, 

pierced with twenty-three wounds, 

Caesar fell dead at the foot of 

the statue of iis great rival, Pom- 

pey. 

124. Julius Csesar was in his 
Person of fif t}-sixth year, whcn, c^^ar. 

Caesar. q^ ^^iQ 15th of March, B. c. 44, he was stricken 

down. His personal appearance was noble and command- 
ing; he was tall in stature, of a fair complexion, and with 
black eyes full of expression. He never wore a beard; 
in the latter part of his life liis head was bald ; but being 
quite mindful of his personal appearance, he was in the 
habit of covering the defect with a laurel chaplet. 

125. Intellectually he was distinguished by the most ex- 

traordinary genius in the most diversified pur- 
suits. He was at once a general, a statesman, 
a lawgiver, an orator, a historian, a mathematician, and an 
architect, — and as he was pre-eminent in all, he would seem 
truly to deser^-e the name which Shakespeare gives him, — 

" The foremost man of all the world." 

126. Caesar was upwards of fort}^ years of age before he 
Review of his became prominent in public affairs. In the 
career. j^^^^ fourteen years he subdued Gaul, with its 
swarms of warlike nations ; carried the Roman eagles into 
Britain and beyond the Rhine ; twice conquered Spain ; 
marched through Italy at the head of the legions he had 
trained ; overthrew the armies of Pompey ; reduced Egypt 
to obedience ; conquered Pharnaces ; and won his final 



CIVIL STRIFE. 175 



triumph at Thapsus and Munda, — a series of campaigns 
that comprised fiftv' battles, and in which over one milUon 
of men fell. 

127. Yet his wariike career was but preliminary to his 
career as a statesman, when, ceasing to de- 

, , TT- • Kis plans. 

stroy, he began to create. His aim was vast 
and beneficent, — no tiling less than the political, social, in- 
tellectual, and moral regeneration of the decayed Roman 
nation. He accomplished only a small part of his plan, 3'et 
the work he did still lives after wellnigh two thousand years, 
and what of it was wise and good remains a part of the per- 
manent possession of civilization. 

128. It is said that "revolutions never go backwards." 
Brutus and his fellow-conspirators struck down Effect of cse- 
Caesar in the name of libert}' ; but the blow ^^""'^ death, 
that leveled the master of Rome did not bring back the 
republic, — it only insured the appearance of new claimants 
for supreme power, and consequently new civil wars. 

129. On the occasion of Caesar's funeral the consul, Mark 
Antony, delivered an oration over the dicta- 
tor's body, and to such a height did the feeling ° °°^' 

of the Romans against the plotters rise, that Brutus and Cas- 
sius were obliged to escape forthwith from the cit}^ to avoid 
destruction. 

130. The condition of affairs left Mark Antony in some 
respect the representative of Cesarean princi- ^ 

, , ,. , . 1 Octavius. 

pies ; but a more direct claimant to the suc- 
cession appeared in Caesar's great-nephew, Caius Octavius, 
then a youth nineteen years old. The dictator had adopt- 
ed Octavius as his son ; so his name became Caius Julius 
Caesar Octavianus. Octavius had all the old soldiers on 
his side, and raised the standard of Caesar's vengeance. 

131. At first Antony and Octavius were at strife j but 
finally they became reconciled, and associating- second trium- 
with them Lep'idus, the " master of the horse," Pirate. 



176 HISTORY OF ROME. 

the three formed the Second Triimi\'irate (43 b. c), and con- 
certed a plan to divide among themselves the supreme 
authorit}'. In order to do this it was necessary utterly to 
crush both their personal enemies and the forces of the 
republic. 

132. To accomplish the first object, they began a system 
Their proscrip- of proscription more ruthless and bloody than 
^'°°- that of Marius and Sulla. It is recorded that 
300 senators, 2000 knights, and many thousands of citizens 
were sacrificed. The most illustrious of the victims was 
the famous orator Cicero, whose severe invectives against 
Antony had procured him the relentless hatred of the tri- 
um\ir. The aged patriot, while escaping from Rome in 
a litter, was assassinated. 

133. The second object was the destruction of the re- 
Battle of Phi- publican forces. Now Brutus and Cassius, 
lippi- finding their position in Italy to be desperate, 
had retired to the East, where in Thrace they gathered an 
army of about 100,000 men. Antony and Octavius pursued 
them with a still larger force, and the two armies met at 
Philippi. The republican army was totally defeated (No- 
vember, 42 B. c.) ; both Brutus and Cassius killed them- 
selves. 

134. The victors now di\*ided the Roman world among 
Quarrels of themsclves, — Antouy taking the East, Octa- 
the three. ^.-^^g ^^ West, and Lepidus the pro\-ince of 
Africa. But the Roman world was scarcely theirs before 
they began to quarrel over it The feeble Lepidus never 
possessed much influence, and was soon robbed of his share. 
--Vfter this it was quite certain that a contest between An- 
tony and Octa\-ius could not long be delayed, and each be- 
gan to intrigue against tlie other. 

135. Antony made the headquarters of his half of the 
Conduct of Roman dominion at Alexandria, Here he 
Antony. came under tlie fascinations of Cleopatra, and 



CIVIL STRIFE. 177 



he lost all regard to his character or his interests in her 
company. He even went so far as to divorce his wife Oc- 
tavia, the sister of Octavius, and, having married the volup- 
tuous Egyptian queen, he bestowed Roman provinces on her. 

136. This conduct was treasonable, and furnished Octa- 
vius with a decent pretext for declaring war. Battle of 
The young Caesar had been gaining great pop- ■^«^ti^"»- 
ularity in Italy ; he had consolidated his power and had his 
legions in fine training. The fleets and armies of the rivals 
assembled at the opposite sides of the Gulf of Ambracia. 
After considerable delay, Antony, instigated by Cleopatra, 
who was present with her Egyptian fleet, determined to de- 
cide the contest by a naval battle. The contest took place 
off the promontory of Ac'tium (on the west coast of Greece), 
while the hostile armies, drawn up on the shore, were sim- 
ple spectators. In the midst of the conflict Cleopatra 
tacked about, and with the Egyptian squadron of sixty sail 
drew out of the fight. Antony, regardless of his honor, 
followed after her, and the pair fled to Alexandria. Both 
the fleet and the force of Antony surrendered to Octavius, 
31 B. c. 

137. Some months afterwards Octavius advanced to be- 
siege Alexandria. Antony attempted to de- End of An- 
fend it ; but he was abandoned by his troops, ^^^y- 
Cleopatra retired to a monument she had erected, and 
caused a report to be spread of her death. Upon this news 
Antony attempted to commit suicide, and inflicted on himself 
a mortal wound : hearing, however, in the midst of his ago- 
nies, that Cleopatra still lived, he caused himself to be 
carried to her monument, and expired in her presence 

(30 B. C). 

138. The end of Cleopatra was even more tragic. The 
Egyptian queen seems at first to have thought 

that she would be able to bewitch the young ^°^ 
Caesar; but having in vain essayed her arts on the cold, 



178 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



calculating Octavius, she, sooner than be led in chains to 
adorn the triumph of the victor, and glut the eyes of the 
populace of Rome with the sight of the daughter and last 
of the Ptolemies preceding the chariot of the adopted son 
of him who had done homage to her charms, gave herself 
voluntary death by the bite of an asp, or the scratch of a 
poisoned needle. Eg}'pt now became a Roman province 
(30 B. c). 

139. There was now no one left to withstand Octavius 
Triumph of Cassar, w^ho tlius remained sole master of the 
Octavius. great dominion which the mighty Julius had 

prepared for him. The senate, in fact, was ready to concede 
to hirn tlie entire authority. He indeed went through the 
farce, soon after his return to Rome, of resigning the im- 
peratorship ; but he was prevailed on to resume it for ten 
years, and every ten years after to re-resume it. Gradually 
all the great offices were united in his person, and he be- 
came in fact Emperor of the Roman world. We may count 
the Roman Empire as beginning with the year b. c. 27, 
when Octavius was saluted with the new and peculiar tide 
of Augustus. 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. 



I. Rome under the kings. 



Rome is believed to have been 
founded as a frontier post by the 
Latins of Alba Longa ; but it. was 
from the first almost independent, 
then wholly so, and finally ac- 
General j quired an ascendency over all 



Statement. 



the other Latin cities. The num- 
ber of kings is said to have been 
seven ; but their history is almost 
wholly fabulous. Regal rule was 
ended by the banishment of Tar- 
quin. 



LEADING DATES. 



Founding of Rome 753 



End of kingly rule 509 



ANALYTIC SYNOF6IS. 



179 



First Epoch, Roman Republic (509-390). 



General 
Statement. 



The first epoch of 119 years 
from the establishment of the re- 
public was a period of struggle 
external and internal. The Ro- 
mans had to contend, for their 
mere existence, with the various 
neighboring states, and during 
this epoch they went rather back- 
wards than forwards, as regards 
the extent of their territory. 
There was also a struggle of 
classes, owing to the oppression 
of the Plebeians by the Patri- 
cians ; but finally the Plebs were 
allowed to elect magistrates 
called tribunes. Soon after, the 
unwritten Roman law was em- 
bodied in the Twelve Tables. 
Various changes were made in 
the administration of the govern- 
ment, decemvirs taking the place 
of consuls, and military tribunes 
the place of decemvirs. In this 
unsettled state of affairs Rome 
fell a prey to the Gauls, who 
burned the city. 



Establishment of 
the Republic 509 



Secession of the 
Plebeians 493 



Laws of the 
Twelve Tables.. 451 



Military tribunes 
appointed 



Rome captured by 
the Gauls 390 



Licinian 
passed. 



Second Epoch, Roman Republic (390-266). 

The Plebeians were again griev- 
ously oppressed by the Patricians, 
and troubles ensued, but a set- 
tlement was made by the Licin- 
ian constitution, which remedied 
abuses With the cessation of 
internal troubles the Romans be- 
gan a career of conquest. First, 
there were the " Samnite " wars 
and the "Latin" wars These 
General wars ended in the complete sub- 
Statement. \ jugation of these nations and the 



laws 



367 



Beginning of Sam- 
nite wars 343 

Beginning of Latin 
wars 340 

End of Samnite 
wars ago 



i8o 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



mastery of Rome over all Cen- 
tral Italy. The Romans now 
turned their attention to Southern 
or Grecian Italy, where they had 
to meet Pyrrhus in several bat- 
tles. At first defeated, they were 
finally successful ; Pyrrhus was 
compelled to abandon his project, 
and the southern part of Italy 
was conquered, thus giving the 
Romans mastery over the whole 
Italian peninsula. 



Battle of Pandosia 
Battle of Asculum 



Battle of Beneven- 
tum 



Romans masters 
of all Italy 



280 
279 



275 



266 



General 
Statement. 



Third Epoch, Roman Republic (266-133). 

The era of foreign conquest 
lasted 133 years (266- 133). First 
the Romans attacked the Cartha- 
ginians, their great rivals. This 
mighty contest ran through three 
wars known as the three Punic 
wars. In the first, lasting 23 
years, the Carthaginians were 
unsuccessful. The Romans after 
this conquered Cisalpine Gaul. 
Hamilcar now became general-in- 
chief of the Carthaginians, and on 
his death his greater son Hannibal 
came into command. Hannibal 
took the aggressive in Spain, and 
thus began the second Punic War. 
He won brilliant victories, and 
maintained himself fifteen years 
in Italy ; but finally was recalled 
to Carthage and was defeated by 
the Romans at Zama. Soon 
after the second Punic War the 
Romans conquered Macedon and 
Greece, and made them Roman 
provinces. The third Punic War 
was marked by the siege of Car- 
thage, and resulted in the utter 
annihilation of the Carthaginian 
power. 



Beginning of first 
Punic War 264 

End of first Punic 
War 241 

Conquest of Cisal- 
pine Gaul 223 



Beginning of sec- 
ond Punic War. 218 



Battle of Zama, 
and end of second 
Punic War 202 



Battle of Pydna... 

Greece made a Ro- 
man province 

Burning of Car- 
thage, and end 
of Punic wars... 



168 



146 



146 



ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. 



i8i 



Agrarian law 
brought for- 
ward by T. 
Gracchus 133 

Death of C. Grac- 
chus 121 

Outbreak of first 
Mithridatic war 86 



86 



Massacres by Ma- 
rius ' 

Sulla's proscrip- 
tions 83 



Fourth Epoch, Roman Republic (^133-27). 

The long civil strife which fol- | 
lowed Rome's .foreign wars re- 
sulted from the desperate poverty 
of the Plebeian class. This class 
found two champions in the Grac- 
chi, but both were victims to the 
rage of the aristocracy. The first 
Mithridatic war now ensued, but 
was successfully ended by Sulla. 
Then came the bloody days of 
Marius and Sulla. Subsequently 
Pompey rose to power. He had 
been the leader of the aristocracy, 
but went over to the people's 
party, he, Julius Csesar, and Cras- 
sus forming the First Triumvi- 
rate. Caesar went into Gaul, 
where he prosecuted his cam- 
paigns for eight 5'ears ; but Pom- 
pey intrigued against him ; so he 
General ^ crossed the Rubicon and made 
himself master of Italy. The de- 
cisive battle between Csesar and 
Pompey was fought at Pharsalia, 
Caesar being successful ; the 
remnant of the Pompeian forces 
was crushed at Thapsus. Cae- 
sar was now master ; but a con- 
spiracy was formed against him, 
and he was assassinated. After 
the death of Cssar his nephew 
Octavius formed with Antony and' 
Lepidus the Second Triumvirate. 
Octavius led his forces against 
Brutus and Cassius, defeating 
them at Philippi. Antony and 
Octavius now quarreled, but the 
dispute was settled in favor of the 
latter by the battle of Actium, 
and soon after Octavius assumed 
the title of Augustus Caesar. 



Statement. 



First Triumvirate 60 

Caesar's Gallic 
campaign 58-50 



Crossing of the 
Rubicon 49 



Battle 
salia. 



Battle 
sus.. 



of Phar- 



of Thap- 



48 



46 



Assassination 
Csesar 



of 



Second 
rate . . 



Triumvi- 



43 



Battle of Philippi. 42 



Battle of Actium.. 31 



Octavius (Augus- 
tus) becomes 
Emperor 27 



1 82 HISTORY OF ROME. 



CHAPTER IV. 
ROME AS AN EMPIRE. 

I. AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 

140. When Augustus Cssar at the age of thirty-six 
Nature of the became master of the Roman world, there was 
imperial rule, j^q open estabUshment of a monarchical gov- 
ernment. On the contrar}^, most of the old republican 
forms were kept up ; but they were inere forms. The 
senate still sat, but it did little more than vote what Augus- 
tus -udshed ; the people still met in their assemblies and 
elected consuls and magistrates, but only such persons were 
elected as had been proposed or recommended by the 
Emperor. Augustus, however, assumed nothing of the out- 
ward pomp of a monarch : he was satisfied with the siih- 
starice of supreme rule. The almost uninterrupted festi\d- 
ties, games, and distributions of corn and the like kept the 
people out of politics ; and, what through degeneracy, and 
what through despair, they ^vere luiU'mg to be out of 
politics ! 

141. The boundaries of the Roman Empire as estab- 
Extent of the lishcd by Augustus may be stated in a general 
Empire. ^y^y ^s follows : On the north, the British 
Channel, the North Sea (Mare German'icum), the Rhine, 
the Danube (Ister), and the Black Sea (Pontus Euxi'nus) ; 
on the east, the Euphrates and the Desert of Syria ; on the 
south, the Sahara of Africa ; and on the west, the Atlantic 
Ocean. It extended from east to west a distance of fifty 
degrees, or about 2700 miles, and had an average breadth 
of about fifteen degrees, or above 1000 miles. 

142. The Roman Empire took in the modern countries 
of Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Western Holland, 







..^-ii -^ 










AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 1 83 

Rhenish Prussia, parts of Baden and Wurtemberg, most of 
Bavaria, Switzerland, Italy, the Tyrol, Austria countries in- 
Proper, Western Hungary, Croa'tia, Slavo'nia, eluded. 
Servia, Turkey in Europe, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, 
Palestine, Idumae'a, Egypt, the Cyrena'ica, Tripoli, Tunis, 
Algeria, and most of Morocco. 

143. The entire Empire, exclusive of Italy, was divided 
into 27 "Provinces," which may be con- 
veniently grouped under tliree heads : i. The 

Western, or European ; 2. The Eastern, or Asiatic ; 3. The 
Southern, or African. The Western provinces numbered 
14; the Eastern, 8; the Southern, 5.* 

144. Within the circuit of the Roman dominion there 
were what we may call three civilizations : The three civ- 
the Latin, the Greek, and the Oriental. Latin iii^ations. 
civilization took in the countries from the Atlantic Ocean 
to the Adriatic; Greek civilization, from the Adriatic to 
Mount Taurus ; Oriental civilization, the lands beyond to 
the Euphrates. 

145. The area of Latin civilization embraced the penin- 
sula of Italy (its native seat) and all Western . 
Europe, -where the Romans appeared not only 

as a conquering but also as a civilizing people. Thus in 
the three provinces of Spain (Hispania), in the four prov- 
inces of Transalpine Gaul (corresponding nearly with the 
modern France), as well as in the North African provinces, 
especially Carthage (which was restored by Caesar as a 
Roman colony), the Latin language took firm root, and the 
manners and customs, and indeed the whole civilization, of 
those lands became Roman. 

146. Greek civilization was spread over Greece and all 
those parts of Europe and Asia that had been ^. ^ j^ 
Hellenized by Grecian colonists or by the 

* Name these from the map opposite p. 182. 



1 84 HIS TORY OF ROME. 

[Macedonian conquerors. In manners, customs, language, 
and culture these lands remained Greek, while politually 
they were Roman. 

147. Oriental civilization was diffused over the East- 
Orientai ^"^ proWnces, especially EgA'pt and S}Tia. 

These countries had, under the rule of Alexan- 
der's successors, become to some degree Hellenized ; but 
this influence was on the whole superficial. The peoples 
of those Oriental lands had never given up their own 
languages or religious ideas or ways of thinking. Now 
these peoples, it should be said, did not become Laiinize^i 
either, — they did not adopt the language and ci\-ihzatioa 
of Rome. 

148. Within the limits of the Roman Empire under 

Au2:ustus there mav have been in all one 

Government. •- 

HUNDRED MILLION'S of human beings. Not less 
tlian one half were in a condition of slavery ; and of the 
rest, only that small proportion who, under the envied 
name of Roman citizen {civis Ro7nanus\, inhabited Italy, 
enjoyed political independence, or had the smallest share 
in the government The various lands and peoples were 
under Roman legates (half of these appointed by Augustus 
and the other half by the Senate), who held supreme mili- 
tary- command. To the pro\-inces were left, however, their 
independent municipal constitutions and officers. In Rome 
and Italy the public peace was presen-ed b}^ the prdorian 
cohons. — bodies of soldiers of tried valor, to whom Augus- 
tus gave double pay. Throughout the pro\-inces the people 
were kept in check by the regular troops, — numbering 
350,000 men. 

149. Of this vast Empire Rome was the metropolis, now 

a cits- of innumerable streets and buildings, 

and containing, it is calculated, a population 

of about two millions and a half. It was in this period that 

Rome became truly a splendid cit}-. Augustus was able to 

boast tiiat *' he found the city- brick and left it marble," 



AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 



185 



150. In the days of its greatest prosperity the circumfer- 
ence of Rome enclosed by walls was about ^^^ extent 
twenty miles ; but there were also very exten- 
sive suburbs. The walls were pierced by thirty gates. The 
most remarkable objects were the Coliseum, the Capitol 
with its temples, the Senate-House, and the Forum. 

151. The great circus, or Circus Maximus, a place reserved 
for public games, races and shows, was one circus and 

of the most magnificent structures of Rome. It Coliseum, 
was capable of containing 200,000 spectators. The Flavian 
Amphitheater, whose massive ruins are known as the Coli- 
seum, could seat from 80,000 to 100,000 persons. In the 
arena were exhibited the fights of gladiators, in which the 
Romans took such savage delight, together with races, com- 
bats of wild beasts, etc. Theaters, public baths, etc., were 




The Coliseum. 



erected by the emperors, who seemed anxious to compen- 
sate the people for their loss of liberty by the magnificence 
of their public shows and entertainments. 



iS6 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



152. In the valley between the Palatine and Cap itoline 

hills was the Fon/m, or place of public assem- 
bly, and the great market. It was surrounded 
with temples, halls for the administration of justice (called 
basil'ic(2), and public offices ; it was also adorned ^ith 
statues erected in honor of eminent warriors and statesmen, 
and with various trophies from conquered nations. 

153. In the Forum was the celebrated Temple of Janus, 
Temple of buiit entirely of bronze and dating back to the 
Janus. early kingly period. From some early circxmi- 
stance the custom was established of closing the gates of 
this temple during peace ; but so incessant were the wars 
of the Romans, that during eight centuries the gates of the 
Temple of Janus were closed only three times. 




ACE OF AUGUSTUS. 1 8/ 

154. The elections of magistrates, reviews of troops, and 
the census or registration of citizens, were campus Mar- 
held in the Campus Martius, which was also ^*"^* 

the favorite exercise-ground of the young nobles. It was 
surrounded by several splendid edifices ; ornamental trees 
and shrubs were planted in different parts, and porticoes 
erected under which the citizens might continue their 
exercise in rainy weather. Hard by was the celebrated 
Pantheon, or Temple of All the Gods (erected in the reign of 
Augustus), the most perfect and splendid monument of 
ancient Rome that has survived the ravages of time. 

155. The aqueducts were among the most remarkable 
Roman structures. Pure streams were sought 

at a great distance, and conveyed in these 
artificial channels, supported by arches, many of which were 
more than a hundred feet high. Under the emperors, not 
fewer than twenty of these stupendous and useful structures 
were raised ; and they brought such an abundant supply of 
water to the metropolis, that rivers seemed to flow through 
the streets and sewers. 

156. Rome was inferior to Athens in architectural 
beauty, but it far surpassed the Grecian city in General de- 
works of public utility. To enumerate all the scription. 
notable edifices would be impossible here ; but we may sum 
up the matter by saying that the " Eternal City " in the 
zenith of its glory contained four hundred and twenty 
temples, five regular theaters, two amphitheaters, and seven 
circuses of vast extent. There were sixteen public baths 
built of marble, and furnished with every convenience that 
could be desired. From the aqueducts a prodigious num- 
ber of fountains was supplied, many of which were remark- 
able for their architectural beauty. The palaces, public 
halls, columns, porticoes, and obelisks were without num- 
ber, and to these must be added the triumphal arches 
erected by the later emperors. 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



157* As the peace of the Roman world was maintained 
by the strong: hand of power, it was at this time 

Literature. / ° . i 1 , • 

that many of those arts that grow best durmg 
seasons of national order and prosperit}^ made their greatest 
progress. Thus many of the best-known Latin writers lived 
at this time. Augustus himself was a great patron of literary 
men and artists, and so was his minister, Caius Cilnius 
Maece'nas. They honored and rewarded eminent writers ; 
and though we must not forget that many of the distin- 
guished men whose AMitings add luster to the " Augustan 
age " had grown up under the republic, still Augustus de- 
serves credit for fostering letters. Nothing will make up 
for the loss of political freedom ; but it is something that 
in Rome, when libert}' was lost, literature at least flourished. 

158. Among the distinguished writers of this age or the 
times immediately preceding it are : — 

Virgil, the author of the epic poem the yEiie'id, a graceful, if not a:i 

original, ^^Titer. 
Horace, author of many poems, odes, satires, and epistles ; a witty, 

good-humored, and most vivacious song-writer. 
Sallust, the historian of the Jugurthine War and the Conspiracy of 

Catiline ; a very spirited writer. 
Lucre'tius, a writer of didactic poetry, containing passages of noble 

eloquence and philosophy, along with much that is characteristic of 

the low tone of thought prevalent in the pagan world. 
Catul'lus, author of lyrics that are among the sweetest and most truly 

poetic things in the Latin language. 

159, These are the most distinguished names in the 

Auo^ustan aere, and they are among: the most 

Later writers. 

distinguished in all Roman literature. And 
as we shall have no further occasion to recur to Roman 
literature, we may simply note here among subsequent 
writers, — Li\'y, the great historian of Rome ; Ovid, the 
poet ; Martial, the UTiter of epigrams ; Pliny, the writer od 
natural history (killed 79 a. d. by the great eruption from 
Vesuvius, which buried the cities of Pompeii and Hercula- 



AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 1 89 

neum) ; Ju'venal, the bitter satirist ; and Tacitiis, the philo- 
sophic historian of the dechning glories of Rome. 

160. The reign of x\iigustus is rendered memorable by 
the birth of Christ at the little village of Birth of 
Bethlehem, in Judsa, — the most momentous ^^"st. 
event in the spiritual history of the ^^•o^ld. Reckoned in 
our common era, this event took place in die year 4 b. c* 

161. Augustus died in 14 a. d. ; so that, counting from 
his formal accession to title, 27 b. c, he ruled Reign of 
over the Roman dominion for forty-one years. Augustus. 

162. Augustus was succeeded by his step-son, Tibe'rius 
Clau'dius Nero. It must be remembered that ^,. 

His successor. 

the Roman government was not legally a 
monarchy ; hence Augustus's heir was not necessarily the 
heir of liis power. But the Emperor had adopted Tiberius 
as his own son, and the subser^dent senate voted him all 
the honors Augustus had held. 

163. In the note below f the scholar will find a reference 

* Our method of counting time was not introduced rill the year 532 
A. D. The calculation was erroneous, and it was found ten centuries 
afterward to be deficient four years of the true period ; but as the alter- 
ation of a system that had then been adopted by nearly all Europe would 
have made great confusion in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, the error 
was, bv general consent, allowed to remain, and we conrinue to reckon 
from this era (A. D., anno domini, that is, "in the year of our Lord"), 
which, however, lacks four years and six days of the real Christian epoch- 

t The following table gives a list of the Roman Emperors, with the 
dates of their reigns : 

A. D. A. D. A. D. A. D. 



Augustus 14 

Tiberius. 14- 37 

Caligula 37- 41 



Domitian 81 - 96 

Nerva 96- 98 

Trajan 98-117 



Claudius 41 - 54 | Hadrian 117-13S 



Nero 54-68 

Galba 68- 69 

Otho 69-69 

Vitellius 69 - 69 



Antoninus Pius 138- 161 

M.Aurelius 161 -iSo 

L. Verus 161 -169 

Commodus 180- 192 



Vespasian 69- 79 Pertinax 193 - 193 

Titus 79- Si i Julianus 193- 193 



190 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



table of the Roman emperors, from Augustus to Augustu- 
Reference ^^s, 476 A. D. It >s not the plan of tliis book 

*^^^^- to make Roman history turn on the personal 

fortunes of the emperors or the intrigues of tlieir courts, — 
insignificant details with which histon.' has been entirely too 
much taken up. Hence it will be enough to refer to the 
table from time to time as we take up under separate heads 
the great events of the Roman world. 



Septimius Severus 193- 

( Caracalla 211- 

\ Geta 211- 

Macrinus 217- 

Elagabalus 218- 

AJexander Severus 222 - 

Maximinus 235 - 

j Gordianus I. ( ^^q 

\ Gordianus II. J ^^ 

( Pupieniis Maximus 
1 Balbinus 

Gordianus III 238 

Philippus 244 

Decius 249 

Trebonianus Gall us 251 

./Emilianus 253 

( Valerian 253 

( Gallienus 253 

Claudius 11 268- 

Aurelian 270' 

Tacitus 275 • 

Florianus 276 

Probus 276 

Cams 282 

( Carinus ) ^g, 

\ Numerianus ) " "^ 

( Diocletian 284 

< Maximian 286 

( Constantius 1 305 



211 
217 
212 
218 

222 

235^ 

238, 

238^ 



24^ 
249 
251 

-254 
-2531 
-260 ' 
-26S, 
-270 ' 
-275; 

-276 ! 
276 ' 
282 
283 
2S4 

305 
305 
306 



c Galerius 305- 

\ Constantinel.theGreat 306- 

( Licinius 307 - 

( Constantine II 337- 

< Constantius II 337- 

C Constans 1 337- 

Juiian 361 - 

Jovian 363- 

Yalentinian 1 364- 

Gratian 375 - 

Valentinian II 383 - 

Theodosius 1 392- 

(Emperor of the West as 

well as of the East.) 

Honorius 395 - 

Theodosius II 423 - 

Valentinian III 425- 

Petronius Maximus . 455 - 

A%'itus 455 - 

Majorian 457 - 

Libius Sevenos 461 - 

Anthemius 467 - 

Olybrius 472 - 

Glycerius 473 - 

Julius Nepos 474- 

Romulus Augustulus. . . 475 - 

(Last Emperor of the 
West.) 



in 

323 

340 
361 
350 
363 
■364 
■375 
•383 
•392 
395 



•423 
425 
455 
455 
456 
461 
465 
472 
472 
474 
475 
476 



POLITICAL HISTORY. 19I 

2. POLITICAL HISTORY. 

164. During nearly three centuries after the death of 
Augustus, the empire remained, as far as Kind of gov- 
political arrangements were concerned, prett}^ ernment. 
nearly as he had left it. Though tlie senate still continued 
to sit, and consuls to be elected, yet the Roman world soon 
became thoroughly accustomed to the rule of one man. At 
first, the empire was inherited as a birtliright by those who 
could claim descent from Augustus, or who had been 
adopted into the family. Xero was in reality the last 
emperor of the family of Augustus, though all who suc- 
ceeded to the empire still went on calling themsek'es 
Ccesar and Augustus to the last. 

165. It soon came about that the real power behind the 
tlirone was the soldier}\ The troops, and pretorian 
especially tlie " Pretorian Guard,"' took it ^"^^• 
upon themselves to dispose of the sovereignt}' as it pleased 
them, and it was rare that the senate ventured to refuse to 
res^ister the decree of the soldiers. To raise favorite o:en- 
erals to the purple, and then to murder them for the sake 
of the largesses which it was customar)- to receive in case 
of a new accession, was the favorite pastime of the troops ; 
and it sometimes happened that there were several em- 
perors at the same time, different armies throughout the 
empire having each appointed one. 

166. Augustus bequeathed as a valuable legacy to his 
successors the advice of confining die empire Growth of the 
within those limits which nature seemed to ^^pi^e. 
have placed as its permanent boundaries : on the west, the 
Atlantic Ocean ; the Rhine and the Danube on the north ; 
the Euphrates on the east ; and on the south the deserts of 
Africa and Arabia. The only accession which the Roman 
Empire received during the first century of the Christian era 
was the province of Britain. "After a war of about forty 
years, undertaken by the most stupid [Claudius], maintained 



192 HISTORY OF ROME. 

by the most dissolute [Nero], and terminated by the most 
timid [Domi'tian] of all the emperors, the greater part of 
the island of Britain submitted to the Roman yoke."* The 
next addition to the Roman territoiy was made by Trajan 
in the early part of the 2d century. This consisted of the 
province of Dacia, which was bounded by the Dnei'ster, the 
Theiss, the Lower Danube, and the Euxine Sea. 

167. It has already been seen that the Roman Empire 
Roman citizen- Consisted of Italy and the Provixces, and tliat 
^^P- in point of government the two divisions were 
on a very different footing. The inhabitants of Italy were 
Roman citizens, whereas the provincials were under the 
military rule of Roman officials, — legates and proconsuls. 
But the same salutary maxims of government which had se- 
cured the peace and obedience of Italy were little by little 
extended to tlie countries outside of Italy. A nation of 
Romans was gradually formed in the provinces by the 
double expedient of introducing colonies and of admitting 
the most faithful and deser\dng of the provincials to the 
freedom of Rome. Finally, in tlie time of Caracal'la, in 
the early part of the 3d century a. d. (211 -217), the old 
distinction bet^^een Romans and provincials was wholly 
abolished. Roman citizenship was given to all the free in- 
habitants of the empire. 

168. By this time the Latinizing of the Western provinces 
Latinizing of was Completely effected ; that is to say, in lan- 
the provinces, guage, manners, and ideas, tlie inhabitants of 
Gaul, Spain, Northern Africa, and Illyria had become thor- 
ough Romans. A very interesting proof of this is furnished 
by the fact that many of the best and bravest of the later 
emperors were provincials, or barbarians^ as they would be- 
fore this have been called. 

169. When there ceased to be any distinction bet^veen 
Italy and the rest of the Roman Empire, the importance 

* Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 



POLITICAL HISTORY. I93 

of Rome as the center of the imperial dominion was very 
much diminished. This change is marked by Rome loses its 
the fact that, in later times, Rome was quite importance, 
forsaken by the emperors, who found it better to Uve near 
the frontiers, whence they could keep watch against outside 
foes ; and it is still more emphatically marked by a new order 
of things, which was begun by the Emperor Diocle'tian. 

170. Diocletian (283 - 305 a. d.) was one of a series of 
able IlhTians that rose to the purple. Finding Division of 
the unwieldy mass too great for the adminis- P°w^r. 
tration of a single indi\ddual, he took a general named Max- 
im'ian as his colleague : he di\-ided the imperial power be- 
rvveen himself and Maximian, Diocletian retaining the East, 
while ^laximian ruled over the ^'\'estem, or Latin-speaking, 
peoples. Not content with this division, Diocletian took 
an assistant and made his colleague do the same. These 
sub-rulers were called Ccesars, and it was intended that they 
should afterwards succeed to the imperial power. This ar- 
rangement did not last long, and. after various struggles, the 
whole empire was reunited under Constantine the Great, in 

A. D. 323. 

171. Constantine made a change which had a great effect 
upon the later history- of the Roman world. ^ 

^ - - . . Constantine. 

He removed the capital of the empire to the 
old Greek cit}- of Byzan tium, on the Bosphorus, which he 
greatly enlarged and called Xe-tv Romt\ but which has been 
better known ever since as Constantino'ple (Greek polis^ a 
cit}-, — the city of Canstantini). Even before this, Rome 
had, as we have seen, ceased to be the usual dwelling-place 
of the emperors, who commonly lived at Milan, Xicome dia 
(Bith}Ti'ia), and elsewhere : but the transfer of the capital 
to a Greek cit}- is a proof of how completely the Empire 
had come to overshadow Rotne and Italy. 

172. Theodosius I. was the last Emperor ^^ , . 

, , _ _ . -^ ^ Theodosius, 

who reigned over the whole Roman Empire. On 

9 ^ 



194 HISTORY OF ROME. 



his death, in a d. 395, the vast dominion was di^'ided be- 
tween his two sons, — Hono'rius ruling in the West, and 
Arca'dius in the East, 

173. From that date the histon- of Rome di\-ides itself 
Division of the i^to two distinct histories, — that of the West- 
empire, gj-^ Qj. Larin Empire, and that of the Eastern, 
Greek, or Byzan'dne Empire. As to the Eastern Empire, 
we shall have to follow its histor}- do^vn through the Z^Iiddle 
Ages, till its destruction by the Turks in the 15 th centur}% 
But for the present, it is with tiie Western Empire alone 
that we are concerned, for with the fall of the Western 
Roman Empire ancient histor}' ends. This downfall took 
place in the year 476 a, d. ; but we shall defer to a subse- 
quent section the narrative of the last days of Rome. 

3. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 

174. \Miile the political events about which we have just 
The new learned, and which tilled up the five centuries 
power. q£ imperial Rome, were taking place, a change 
far more momentous than any political revolution was 
coming over the minds of men. This was the mighty moral 
transformation effected by Christianit}*. 

175. In the time of Augustus the different peoples and 
State of the nations under the Roman swav had a sjeat 

worla at the . .... , ,,.,', . 

birth of Christ, vanct}* of rcligions, but all, with the exception 
of the Jews, were pagans and poh-theists. 'While Augustus 
was ruling over a hundred millions of fellow-pohlheists, there 
took place in an obscure comer of the Roman dominion 
an event the importance of which the wisest Roman could 
not have foreseen. This was the birth of Christ, the founder 
of a religion which was to overspread the pohtheistic na- 
tions, dissolve the ancient creeds and philosophies, and 
renovate the faith, the thoughts, the whole life of the ci\-il- 
ized world. Now the diffusion of Christianit}^ was power- 



SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 95 

fully aided by \h&factoi the Roman Empire, — by the unity 
of government under the empire ; hence it has been truly 
said that " the Roman empire may be defined as a compul- 
sory assemblage of polytheistic nations in order diat Chris- 
tianit}' might operate over a large surface at once of tliat 
polytheism which it was to supersede and destroy." 

176. Jesus Christ was crucified in the nineteenth year 
of the reign of Tiberius. At Antioch, in S}Tia, pirst spread of 
where Barnabas and Saul taught the faith, the Christianity, 
disciples were first called " Christians.'' And then began 
those journeys by which St Paul carried the gospel through 
Asia Minor and Greece, until he was himself carried a 
prisoner to Rome, to die there in the reign of Nero. The 
Christian religion silently but surely spread itself ; first 
among the Jews, then among tlie Greeks, or eastern, and 
lastly, among the Latin, or western, Gentiles. 

177. The existence of Christianity in the Roman Empire 
is first signalized by the persecutions to which Nero's perse- 
the Christians were subjected. In the reign ^utions. 

of the brutal Nero the first persecution took place, but it 
was confined to the cit}^ of Rome. A great fire, which con- 
sumed a large part of the cit}% took place. ^len said that 
the emperor's own hand had kindled the flame, out of mere 
madness, and that, while the burning continued, he sat 
calmly looking on, singing verses to the music of his l}Te. 
To divert suspicion from himself, Nero resolved to direct it 
upon the Cliristians. We shall tell the sequel in the lan- 
guage of Tacitus, the great Roman historian, who was bom 
during the reign of Nero. The passage which we quote is 
of great interest, because it contains the earliest mention, 
by any profane WTiter, of the name of Christ. 

"With this %dew [that is, to divert suspicion], Nero inflicted the most 
exquisite tortures on those men who, under the vulgar appellation of 
Christians, were already branded with deser\-ed infamy. They derived 
their name and origin from one Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius had 



196 HISTORY OF ROME. 

suffered death by the sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate. For a 
while this dire superstition was checked, but it again burst forth ; and 
not only spread itself over Judaea, the first seat of this mischievous sect, 
but was even introduced into Rome, the common asylum which receives 
and protects whatever is impure, whatever is atrocious. The confessions 
of those who were seized discovered a great multitude of their accom- 
phces, and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of setting 
fixe to the city, as for their hatred of human kind. Some were nailed on 
crosses, others sewn up in the skins of wild beasts and exposed to the 
fury of dogs ; others, again, smeared over with combustible materials, 
were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night The gar- 
dens of Nero were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was 
accompanied with a horse-race, and honored with the presence of the 
emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress and attitude of a 
charioteer. The guilt of the Christians deserved indeed the most ex- 
emplar}' punishment, but the public abhorrence was changed into com- 
miseration, from the opinion that those unhappy wretches were sacrificed, 
not so much to the public welfare, as to the cruelty of a jealous tyrant "* 

178. A question here arises : Why was it that many of 
Real causes of tlie cmperors who saw without concern a 
tions. thousand forms of rehgion subsisting in peace 

beneath their sway, singled out the sect of the Christians to 
make them the sole objects of persecution ? The answer to 
this question is found in several facts. And first, in the 
proselvting ardor of tlie Christians. The empire was tol- 
erant of all faiths ; but it was not tolerant of a faith which 
taught that the gods of Rome and of all other nations were 
alike false, and which strove to ^-in over all mankind to 
that belief. Then the Roman mind, while it looked with 
respect on all national faiths, viewed with suspicion and dis- 
gust a creed that was not sanctioned by the belief of any 
nation, but was held only by a sect. Moreover, the eariy 
Christians were in the habit of holding their meetings 
secredy and at night ; this was regarded as illegal in prin- 
ciple, and as possibly dangerous in results. Summing up 
the several facts, we may say that the persecutions of the 

* Tacitus, Annals, XV. 44. 



SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 97 

Christians were owing to political reasons rather than to 
religious intolerance. 

179. A striking proof of this is found in the fact that the 
Christians suffered most under good and re- 
forming princes like Trajan and ^Marcus Au- 

relius, men of pure and humane character, while under the 
infamous emperors they were generally let alone. 

180. In spite of persecution the Church constantly ad- 
vanced and made converts, and in the first Growth of 
half of the 3d centur}^, wdiich was a period of Christianity, 
calm, the Christians were permitted to erect and consecrate 
convenient edifices for the purpose of religious worship ; to 
purchase lands, even at Rome itself, for the use of the com- 
munity ; and to conduct the elections of their ecclesiastical 
ministers in a public manner. Not^vithstanding severe per- 
secutions under Decius and Vale'rian, the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity continued to spread among all classes of people 
ever)n;\^here. Indeed, it almost seemed that these persecu- 
tions were needed for the sifting of the Church ; the gold 
was tested and refined in a fiery furnace, and, like a sturdy 
young oak, Christianity, amid all these great and frequent 
Storms, only struck its roots the deeper into the soil. 

181. At last it became plain that a deadly struggle be- 
tween the old faith and the new was inevitable, Diocletian's 
and this came in the reign of Diocletian and persecutions. 
Maximian, at the commencement of tlie 4th century a. d. 
Gale'rius, tlie son-in-law of Diocletian, and the CcEsar under 
him, was a special enemy of the Christians, and he per- 
suaded the emperor to issue an edict (February 24, a. d. 303) 
commanding all Christian churches to be pulled down, all 
Bibles to be flung into the fire, and all Christians to be de- 
graded from rank and honor. Scarcely was tlie proclamation 
posted up, w^hen a Christian of noble rank tore it to pieces. 
For this he was roasted to death. A fire which broke out 
in the palace twice within a fortnight was made a pretext 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



for very violent dealings with the Christians. Those v/ho 
refused to bum incense to idols were tortured or slain. 
Over all the empire the persecution raged, except in Gaul, 
Britain, and Spain, where Constan'tius Chlo^rus ruled as 
Caesar under Diocletian's colleague, Maximian. "\Mien 
Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, and Galerius held 
supreme rule in the East, he indulged all his fur}- against 
the Christians. Says a historian : " With little rest for 
eight years, the whip and the rack, the tigers, the hooks of 
steel, and the red-hot beds continued to do their deadly 
work. And then, in a. d. 311, w^hen life was fading from 
his d}-ing eye, Galerius pubUshed an edict permitting Chris- 
tians to worship God in their own way." 

182. Tliis was the turning-point in the great struggle: 

it was plain that the most violent efforts ' of 
despotism were unable to crush that which 
was by its ver}' nature divine and deathless. 

183. We come now to a remarkable epoch in the history 

of Christianir^-, namelv, the reim of a Roman 

Constantine. ^ ' ■, • 1/ r i ^i • • • 

emperor who himself professed Chnstiamty. 
Con'stantine was the son of Constantius Chlorus. On the 
death of his father in Britain Constantine was at once pro- 
claimed emperor by the soldiers there. He had immedi- 
ately to enter on a contest with no fewer than five rivals, 
and the circumstance attending his conversion is associated 
with an event that took place during this period of warfare. 

184. In A. D. 312, while on the march to attack one of 
His conver- ^^is rivals (Maxen'tius), near Rome, Constan- 
®*°°' tine is reported to have seen with his o\\ti eyes 
the luminous trophy of the cross in the sky, placed above the 
meridian sun, and inscribed ^vith the follo\ving words : By 
THIS CONQUER [in Greek, En iouto nika ; in Latin, In hoc 
vince]. In the battle that followed Maxentius was complete- 
ly overthrown. It is said that this decided Constantine to 
be a Christian. 



SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY 



199 



The Labarum, 



185. The early church historians also add that the fol- 
lowing night Christ appeared to Constantine 
in a dream and commanded him to frame a 

similar standard, and under it to march witli 
an assurance of victor}' against all his ene- 
mies. This is the origin of the celebrated 
Lab'arurn, or standard of the cross, displa3-ed 
by the Christian emperors in all their military- 
expeditions. The top of the Labarum was 
adorned with a mvstic X, reDresentins: at 
once the cross and the initial of the Greek 
word for Christ. 

186. The first fruit of Constantine's con- 
version appeared in a famous Christianity 




decree called the Edict of Milan, liglo^n^ 

A. D. 313 : this restored peace to the Christian 

church. The establishment of Christianity 

The LAB.\Ktm. ^s the religion of tlie state took place in 324, 

when the defeat of die last of his rivals made Constantine 

sole master of the Roman world. 

187. He immediately, by circular letters, exhorted all 
his subjects to imitate the example of their constantine's 
sovereign by embracing the divine trudi of poi'^y- 
Christianit}-. It is calculated that in Constantine's time 
about a twentieth part of the whole population of the 
empire were professed Christians. The emperor did not 
forbid paganism, but chose ratiier to work by ridicule and 
neglect. With public money he repaired tiie old churches 
and built new ones, so that in ever}' great cit}' the Pagan 
temples were faced by Christian churches of rich and 
beautiful architecture. The Christian clerg}' were freed 
from taxes. Sunday w-as proclaimed a day of rest. And, 
to crown all, Constantine removed the seat of government 
to a new capital, — Constantinople, — which was essentially 
a Christian city. 



200 HISTORY OF ROME. 

1 88. Julian, known as Julian the Apostate, who became 
Paganism for- emperor in A. D. 361, made a strong effort to 
bidden. restoic the fallen gods ; but this effort w^as in 
vain, and tlie ruin of paganism was completed at the close 
of the 4th centuR-. By this time the Christians were the 
great majority in most parts of ihe empire ; and Theodosius 
gave the final blow to the heathen faith by prohibiting 
under severe penalties the worship of the old gods. 

189. In closing our review of the first spread of Cliris- 
inteiiectuai tianit}', we must note that the new faith, in 
influence. addition to its direct effect on the belief, the 
lives, and the conduct of men, had also important inielkdual 
results. It gave the mind of the age great subjects to 
grapple witli ; and as the despotism of the imperial govern- 
ment crushed out all political speculation, the intellect and 
the enthusiasm of the nations freely turned to the grand 
problems of tlie ''' Cit}' of God.'' 

190. There thus arose a series of theological wTiters 
^^ ^ ^ both in Greek and Latin, who are knowTi col- 

The Fathers. ... 

lectively as the Christian Fathers, among whom 
the following are the most famous : — 

Tertul'lian. Bom at Carthage in a. D. 160, — first of the Latin writers 
of the Church, — chief work, his "Apology for Christians," written 
about A. D. 19S. 

Or'igen. Born in Eg^-pt a d. 1S5 or 1S6, — editor and commentator of 
tlie Scriptures, — wrote in Greek. 

Cyp'rian. Archbishop of Carthage in the middle of the 3d centur)^, — 
chief work, "Unity of the Church,*' — mart}Ted under Valerian. 

Am'brose. Bom about a. d. 340 in Gaul, — Archbishop of Milan, — 
chief work, De OfHciis, — vindicated the authority' of the priesthood 
over even emperors and kings, by condemning Theodosius I. to a long 
and wear}- penance for his massacre of the Thessalonians. 

A thana'sius. Born in Alexandria, end of the 3d centun,-, — Patriarch of 
Alexandria, — the great champion of Trinitarianism against Anus. 

Greg'ory Nazian'zen. Born early in the 4th centurj- in Cappadocia 
— for a while Patriarch of Constantinople, — noted as a writer of the- 
ology aiid religious poetry-. 



ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 201 

Chrys'ostom. (Gold-mouth, from bis eloquence.) Born at Antioch, 
A. D. 354, — Patriarch of Constantinople, — his works are in Greek. 

Jerome. Born in a. d. 340 in Dalma'tia, — especially learned in He- 
brew, — founder of Monasticism, — chief work, a translation of the 
Bible into Latin (known as the Vulgate, a version for the common 
people, — vulgus) . 

Augus'tine. Born in Numid'ia, in Africa, a. d. 354, — Bishop of Hip- 
po (in Africa), — is known as the Father of Latin Theology, — i 
man of powerful intellect and eloquence, — chief works, " On the. 
Grace of Christ," "Original Sin," the "City of God," and his "Con- 
fessions " (an autobiography). 



4. ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC.* 

191. The most remarkable gannent of the Romans was 



the toga., made of pure white wool, and in 
shape resembling a segment of a circle ; nar- 
row at first, it 
was folded so 
that one arm rest- 
ed as in a sling j 
but in late daj^s 
it was draped in 
broad, flo\^dng 
folds round the 
breast and left 
arm, leaving the 
right nearly bare. 
Though its use j 
in the streets was \ 
in later times ex- 
changed for a 
mantle of warm- 
colored cloth, 
called the pallium 

or lacema, yet it ^^^ Costumes. 



Dress. 




Abridged from Collier's ** Domestic Life in Imperial Rome.'* 



202 HISTORY OF ROME. 

continued to be the Roman full dress ; and in the theater, 
when the emperor was present, all were expected to wear 
it. The Romans always kept the head uncovered, except 
on a journey, or when they wished to escape notice. Then 
they wore a dark-colored hood, which was fastened to the 
lacenia. In the house sokes, were strapped to the bare feet ; 
but abroad the calceus, nearly resembling our shoe, was 
commonly worn. On tlie ring-finger, the fourth of the left 
hand, every Roman of rank had a massive signet-ring. 
There were fops who loaded every finger with jewels ; and 
we are told of one poor fellow who was so far gone in 
foppery as to have a set of lighter rings for summer wear, 
when his delicate frame could not bear the weight of his 
winter jewels. 

192. The dress of Roman ladies consisted of three parts, 

— an inner funic, the siola, and the palla. The 
stola, which was the distinctive dress of Roman 
matrons, was a tunic wath short sleeves, girt round the waist, 
and ending in a deep flounce w^hich swept the instep. The 
palla, a gay-colored mantle, was worn out of doors. It was 
often sky-blue, sprinkled with golden stars. The brightest 
colors were chosen ; so that an assembly of Roman belles, in 
full dress, was a brilliant scene, sparkling with scarlet and 
yellow, purple and pale green. The hair, encircled with a 
garland of roses, was fastened with a gold pin, while pearls 
and gold adorned the neck and arms. 

193. The early Romans lived chiefly on bread and pot- 

herbs ; but when wealth was introduced by 
their conquests, luxury' seized all ranks, and, 
as we have already seen, the imitation of Oriental customs 
completely sap^i^ed the abstemious virtues of the old Romans. 
To many, in the degenerate ages of Rome, the great ends of 
life were to eat the most delicious food, and to eat as much 
of it as possible. Roman meals were three, — jentaculum^ 
prandiutn^ and coiJia. Jentaculum, taken soon after rising, 



ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 203 

consisted of bread, dried grapes or olives, cheese, and per- 
haps milk and eggs. At prandium, the midday meal, the 
Romans partook of fish, eggs, and dishes cold, or wanned 
up from the last night's supper. Then, too, some wine wiis 
drunk. But coena was the principal meal, taken about the 
ninth hour, and on the whole corresponding to our dinner. 
It began with eggs, fish, and light vegetables, such as rad- 
ishes and lettuces, served up with tast}' sauces, all being 
intended merely to whet the appetite for the more substan- 
tial dishes to follow. Then came the courses {fercula), of 
which, in all their wonderful variet}', no just idea can be 
given here. Among fish, turbot, sUirgeon, and red mullet 
were greatly prized; among birds, the peacock, pheasant, 
woodcock, thrush, and fig-pecker. The favorite flesh-meat 
was young pork; but venison was also in great demand. 
The courses were followed by a dessert of pastry and fruit 

194. ^^^lile eating, the Romans reclined upon low couch- 
es, which were arransred in the form fridinium. ^ ^, 

', . , -J £ T-r Table usage. 

makmg three sides of a square. The open 
space was left for the slaves to place or remove the dishes. 
The place of honor was on the middle bench. In later 
times round tables became common, and then semicircular 
couches were used. There were no table-cloths; but the 
guests wore over the breast a linen napkin {niappa\, which 
they brought \\-ith them. Instead of knives and forks two 
spoons were used, — one, cochlear, small and pointed at the 
end of the handle ; the other, lingula, larger and of uncertain 
shape. The splendor of a Roman feast was greatly marred 
by the oil-lamps, the only light then used. The lamps them- 
selves were exquisite in shape and material, as were all the 
table utensils ; but the dripping oil soaked the table, while 
the thick smoke blackened the walls and ceiling, and rested 
in flakes of soot upon the dresses of the guests. 

195. At feasts, instead of the toga, short dresses of red 
or other bright colors were worn. Before the drinking 



204 HISTORY OF ROME. 

began, chaplets were handed round. For these roses, 
m\Ttle, ^-iolets, ivy, and even parsley were 
used. Before they were put on, slaves anointed 
the hair with nard and other sweet unguents. Wine was 
almost the only drink used. Before being brought to table 
it was sometimes strained through a metal sieve or linen bag 
filled with snow, and was called black and white according 
to its color, just as we talk of red and white -wines. The 
tamous Falemian, celebrated by Horace, was of a bright 
amber tint. Besides pure -^ine they drank mulsmn, a mix- 
ture of new wine with honey, and calda^ made of warm 
water, wine, and spice. 

196. The Romans spent much time in their splendid 

baths. The cold plunge in the Tiber, which 
had braced the iron muscles of their ancestors, 
gave place, under the empire, to a most luxurious and elab- 
orate system of tepid and vapor bathing, often repeated 
seven or eight times a da3^ At tlie baths the gossip of 
the day was exchanged. 

197. The theater, T\-ith its tragedies and comedies, the 

circus, and the amphitheater supplied the Ro- 

Amnsements. .... . T - ... 

mans -with tneir chief public amusements. At 
the circus they betted on tlieir favorite horses or charioteers ; 
at the amphitheater they reveled in the bloody combats of 
gladiators, — the most brutal of all the Roman pastimes. At 
the trumpet's sound tlirongs of -\\Tetched men — captives, 
slaves, or convicted criminals — closed in deadly strife. 
The trodden sand soon grew red ; yet on they fought with 
parched lips and leaping hearts, for they knew that a brave 
fight might "win for them their freedom. Erelong, hacked 
and bleeding limbs began to fail, and dim eyes turned to 
seek for mercy along the crowded seats. There were times 
when the dumb prayer was answered, and the down-turned 
thimibs of the spectators gave the signal for sparing life; 
but too often mercy was sought in vain, and the sword com- 



ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 20^ 

pleted its work. Combats of gladiators with jvild beasts 
often took place. \Miole armies sometimes thronged the 
scene. \Mien Trajan celebrated his triumph, after his 
\4ctories in Dacia, 10,000 gladiators were exhibited at once. 

198. Roman books were rolls of papyrus-bark, or parch- 
ment, written upon with a reed pen, dipped in 
lamp-black or sepia. The back of the sheet 

was often stained with saffron, and its edges were rubbed 
smooth and blackened, while the ends of the stick on which 
it was rolled (^whence our word volu?fit\ "a roll ") were adorned 
with knobs of ivor}^ or gilt wood. Letters were etched with 
a sharp iron instmment {stylus, whence our word style) 
upon thin wooden tablets coated wdth wax. These were 
then tied up witli linen thread, the knot being sealed with 
wax and stamped with a ring. 

199. The Romans had three forms of marriage, of which 
the highest was called confarreatw. The bride, 

1 • 1 • 1-1 1 r • 1 Mamage. 

dressed m a white robe with purple innge, and 
covered with a bright yellow veil, was escorted by torch- 
light to her future home. A cake {far) was carried before 
her, and she bore a distaff and spindle ^^itli wool. Arrived 
at the flower-WTeathed portal, she was lifted over the tlireshold 
lest — omen of e^41 — her foot might stumble upon it. Her 
husband then brought fire and water, which she touched ; 
and, seated on a sheepskin, she received the keys of the 
house. A marriage supper closed the ceremony. 

200. The household work was done by slaves of various 
classes. In earlier times a few sufficed : but ^, 

Slaves. 

in the days of the empire it was thought a dis- 
grace not to have a slave for every separate kind of work. 
And so, besides those who managed the purse, the cellar, 
the bedrooms, and tlie kitchen, there w^ere slaves to carry 
the Utter, or to attend as their masters walked abroad. 
Some, of higher pretensions, were readers, secretaries, and 
physicians. Then, for amusement, there were musicians, 



2o6 HISTORY OF ROME. 

dancers, buffoons, and even idiots. But all may be ranked 
under t^o heads, — bought slaves and born slaves. There 
was a slave-market, in which the common sort were sold 
like cattle ; but the more beautiful or valuable were dis- 
posed of by private bargain in the taverns. Prices ranged 
from $ 20 to $ 4000. 

201. The disinterment of the town of Pompeii, which 

was over^vhelmed by an eruption of lava from 

Houses. _ _ ^_ . . , , 

Mount Vesuvms m A. D. 79, enables us to 
form a ver}^ correct idea of what a first-class Roman 
house was. The principal apartments were on the ground- 
floor. Passing through the unroofed vestibule, often between 
rows of graceful statues, the visitor entered the house 
through a doorway ornamented with ivor}', tortoise-shell, 
and gold. On tlie threshold, worked in mosaic marble, 
was the kind word Sal've (welcome). Then came the 
atrium, or great central reception-room, separated from its 
wings by lines of pillars. Here w^ere placed the ancestral 
images ; and here, too, was the focus, or family fireplace 
dedicated to tlie La'res. Fardier in lay a large saloon called 
^^per'istyle. The floor was generally a mosaic of colored 
marble, tiles, or glass ; the walls were car\^ed and painted \ 
gilt and colored stucco-work adorned the ceilings ; while 
the window-frames were filled with talc or glass. On the 
roofs were bright gardens. In houses like these might be 
found ivor}- bedsteads, ^dth quilts of purple and gold ; tables 
of precious wood \ sideboards of gold and silver, loaded 
with plate, amber vases, beakers of Corinthian bronze, and 
glass vessels from Alexandria, whose tints rivaled the opal 
and the ruby. 

202. Of course the scholar will understand that these 

descriptions apply exclusively to the wealthy. 

The common people lived as best they could, 
and we know ver)'- well that the richest were without a great 
many comforts and conveniences which even the pcor now 
command. 



LAST DA YS OF ROME. 20/ 

5. LAST DAYS OF ROME. 

203. In the section on the political history of Rome we 
brought the story of the great empire down to . 

the time of its final dismemberment, in 476 a. d. 

We did not, however, narrate the circumstances attending 

the catastrophe ; accordingly we shall now briefly refer to 

these. 

204. In the 5 th century of our era many things por- 
tended the fall of Rome. Chief of these was 

the fact that the Romans had really ceased to 
exist as a nation. The empire had absorbed the nation. 
We have already seen that the Roman race, w^hich conquered 
the world, was finally swallowed up by the world which it 
conquered. The blood itself was corrupted by alien admix- 
ture ; luxury further demoralized the people ; and the very 
fact that they were "willing for the five hundred years of the 
empire to sit under an imperial despotism, shows that they 
were unfit to be free. 

205. The removal of the capital by Constantine from 
Rome to Byzantium was a signal proof of the change of cap- 
fact that Italy had ceased to be the center of ^^^^• 

the Roman world. From this it was an easy step to the 
division of the empire, which took place under the sons of 
Theodosius, the last emperor who ruled over the whole of. 
the Roman dominion. Thencefor^vard we may regard the 
Roman Empire as confined to Italy with the Western prov- 
inces, or Gaul, Spain, etc., while the Eastern empire, com- 
prising what we have called the Greek and the Oriental 
civilizations, pursued a career of its own. 

206. In this state of facts the Western empire fell a prey 
to the new and vio:orous Teutonic, or German, „^ ^ 

. , 1 . 1 1 • -1 , The Teutons. 

tribes that for centuries had inhabited the 

forests of the North. Ever since the time of Augustus the 

different German tribes had been most dangerous enemies 



20S HISTORY OF ROME. 

of Rome, and many of the most valiant emperors had 
had much ado to defend tlie empire against them. One im- 
portant result of the contact of the " northern barbarians " 
with die Romans was that the Teutonic tribes became 
acquainted with Roman civilization and with Christianit}- ; 
so that most of them became Christians before tliey setded 
in the empire, or ver}^ soon afterwards. 

207. The first great lodgement of die Teutons within the 
First settle- limits of the Roman Empire took place bv per- 
ment of Goths, mission of die Roman Emperor Valens, in die 
last half of die 4th centur}*. The great Germanic family of 
tlie Godis at that time formed an extensive kingdom in the 
lands nordi of the Danube, — the lands we now call ^NIol- 
da\ia and Wallacliia. This region had been Trajan's prov- 
ince of Dacia, but the Romans had wididrawn from it under 
Aurelian. The Goths were gradually becoming Christians 
of the Arian sect under tiie teacliing of a bishop named 
ULfilas, whose translation of die Scriptures into the Gothic 
tongue is the oldest Teutonic writing that we have. 

208. Now, in the latter half of the 4th centur}- the Goths 
Manner of set- found tlicmselves prcsscd upon by an invasion 
tiement. ^^ Huus, — Tartars, or Kalmucks, who had 
been driven out of Eastern Asia, and were at this time 
making their way into Europe. In their despair the Godis 
asked the Emperor ^'alens (who ruled over the East, while 
Valentinian was emperor of the West) to allow them to cross 
to the south side of the Danube, and thus put that stream 
between them and tiieir hideous foes. Leave was granted, 
on condition that they should give up dieir children and 
their arms. The bargain was struck at once. Roman 
boats were provided, and for many days and nights die 
broad river was torn into foam by the ceaseless splash of 
oars. The fugitives, surrendering their children with little 
concern, gladly paid away all they had as bribes to the 
Roman officers for leave to keep their arms. In this way 



LAST DA YS OF ROME. 209 

an immense body of fierce warriors (men, women, and slaves 
numbered nearly a million souls) settled, sword in hand, 
within one of the great natural frontiers of the empire, 

376 A. D. 

209. The Goths had humbly vowed that they would for- 
ever make it their grateful dut}' to guard the Their behav- 
Roman borders. In spite of this they had *°'"- 
hardly been allowed to settle south of the Danube when they 
turned their arms against Valens. It must be said, however, 
that for this they were not wholly without excuse ; the offi- 
cers of the emperor treated tliem in the most scandalous 
manner, and left them to stance. In this plight they resolved 
to help themselves ; they accordingly advanced towards Con- 
stantinople. The imperial army met them near Hadriano'ple, 
where a battle took place that was most disastrous to the 
Romans, and in which Valens lost his life, a. d. 378. The 
Goths, having now nothing to fear, spread themselves over 
the fertile country westward to the confines of Italy and the 
Adriatic Sea. 

210. Under Theodosius the Great, who became emperor 
of the East in a. d. 379, the Goths were brou2:ht 

Alaric 

to capitulate, and settle down quietly, and large 
numbers took service in the Roman armies ; but this course 
was only preparing the inevitable result. When the two 
feeble sons of Theodosius divided between them the Roman 
world, the Visigoths (i. e. Western Goths) revolted, and, 
hoisting their chief, Alaric, upon their shields, according to 
their national mode of electing a king, precipitated them- 
selves upon Italy. Rome was captured and sacked (a. d. 
410), and all Southern Italy was overrun. 

211. And now the great Western empire was fast dissolv- 
ing. In the early part of the 5th century three signs of dis- 
fragments broke off from the decaying trunk, solution. 
The province of Britain was evacuated by the Romans and 
was soon overrun by the German tribes called Angles and 



2IO HISTORY OF ROME. 

Saxons. The various Teutonic tribes were pressing into 
Gaul, and from Gaul into Spain. Spain was conquered 
by Vandals, Sueves, and other German races ; while Gaul 
was tilled vAih Franks and Burgundians and Goths, — all of 
whom belonged to the great Teutonic family. The pro^dnce 
of Africa, too, was lost ; for a band of Vandals under Gen'- 
seric passed over from Spain to Carthage, which was con- 
quered in A. D. 439. 

212. Meanwhile At'tila the Hun had gone forth from his 

lo2:-house on the plain of Hunsfan*, at the head 
of half a milUon savages, to conquer the world. 
Crossing the Rhine, he pierced to the center of Gaul ; but 
at Chalons he was defeated by the united power of the Ro- 
mans, Goths, and Franks, a. d. 451. In this memorable 
battle, Ar)-an ci\-ilization and Tartar despotism met in a 
life-and-death struggle, and the nobler triumphed. Being 
defeated in Gaul. Attila climbed the Alps and overran Italy, 
pillaging and destroying up to the ven.- gates of Rome. It 
is a strange fact that it was tlirough the persuasion of the 
Christian bishop, Leo, that Attila was induced to return to 
Hungar}'. Here he soon afterwards broke a blood-vessel. 
So died one whose savage boast it was that grass never 
grew on a spot where his horse had trodden. His great 
empire immediately fell to pieces. 

213. No sooner had Attila departed than Genseric, the 

Vandal chief of Africa, crossed over from Car- 
thage and anchored his sliips at the mouth of 
the Tiber. This time the persuasion of Leo could not save 
the cit}\ Rome was captured (a. d. 455), and for fourteen 
days Vandals and !Moors wrecked and pillaged without 
mercy. Shiploads of treasure and crowds of captives were 
carried over the sea to Carthage. 

214. During these events there were still emperors of 
Downfall of the Wcst, and their names \^-ill be found in the 
Rome. YisX. But tliey were mere nonentities, for the 



LAST DA YS OF ROME. 2 1 1 

real power was in the hands of the barbarians. At last the 
Roman senate voted that one emperor w^as enough, and 
that the Eastern emperor, Zeno, should reign over the 
whole empire ; but at the same time Zeno was made to trust 
the government of Italy to Odoa^cer, chief of the German 
Herulians, who took the title of Patrician of Italy. The last 
of the Western Roman emperors was Romulus Augustulus, 
a handsome but feeble youth. Him they pensioned oli in 
A. D. 476. Then, "when Odoacer was proclaimed king of 
Italy, the phantom assembly that still called itself the Ro- 
man senate sent back to Constantinople tlie tiara and purple 
robe, in sign that the Western empire had passed away."* 

* White's '•' Eighteen Christian Centuries." 



INDEX 



Abr.\ha.m, 31, 38. 

Abu-Beker, 229. 

Achaia, province of, iii, 155. 

Actium. battle of, 177. 

-L^os Potamos, battle of, loi. 

-cEneas. 133. 

^schines, 123. 

^schylus, 121. 

Alba Longa, 134. 

Alcceus, 121. 

Alcibiades, 100, loi. 

Alexander the Great, career of, 104. 105 ; 
his successors, loS. 

Alphabet, the Phoenician, 45, 46, 47. 

Ambrose, 200 

Amusements, Roman, 204. 

Ancient History-, end of, 5. 

Antony, Mark, 173, 175, 176, 177. 

Aqueducts, Roman, 187. 

Arbela. battle of, 105. 

Archseology, definition of, i. 

Architecture, EgA-ptian. 22 ; Chaldaean, 
30 ; Hindoo, 53 ; Persian, 60 ; Greek, 
orders of, 125, 126. 

Archons, Athenian, 89. 

Aristides, 94. 

Aristophanes, 122. 

Aristotle, 125. 

Art, Greek, 125. 

Arts, Ass^-rian, 35 ; Babylonian, 37 ; Per- 
sian, 61. 

Aryans, 3 ; proof of the unity of, 3 ; in- 
fluence of, in history, 4; first seat 
of, 50. 

Asia, geographical divisions of, 8, 9, 10. 

Assyria, Empire of, 32-35. 

Astronomv, Chaldaean, 30. 

Athanasius, 200. 

Athens, early history of, S8. 

Attila, 210, 



Augustine, 201. 

Augustan Age, iSS. 

Augustus ^see also Octavius), 182-189. 

Babylon, de.scription of, 36. 

Baths, Roman, 204. 

Books, Roman, 205. 

Britain, conquest of, by Romans, 191 ; 
abandonment of. by Romans, 209. 

Brutus, Lucius Junius, 137; Marcus Jun- 
ius, 173. 174, 176. 

Buddhism, 54. 

Cadmus, 46. 

Caesar, Julius, 165-175. 

Cambyses, 56 ; son of Cyrus, 58. 

Cannae, battle of, 151. 

Carthage, founding of. 43 : 
Roman period, 4S, 14S ; 
154- 

Cassius. Caius, 173, 176. 

Castes, EgA-ptian, 20, 21 ; 
origin of, 52. 

Catiline, 165. 

Cato the Censor, 153,158 iiote ; the Young- 
er, 171. 

Catullus. 188. 

Caucasian race, its historic representa- 
tives. 2. 

Chseronea. battle of, 104. 

Chaldaea. the kingdom of, 29-31. 

Cheops. 18. 

Christ, birth of. 189. 

Christianity, spread of, 194-201. 

Christians, first pagan mention of, 195, 
196. 

Chrysostom, 201. 

Cicero, 164, 165. 

Cincinnatus. 139. 

Citizenship, Roman, extension of, 192. 



position of, in 
; siege of, 153, 



Indian, 51 



ISDEX. 



2\lb 



Civilizaiion, connection of, with geogra- 
phy, lo ; Ass\Tian, 34 ; Phoenician, 
49 ; Alexandrian, 108 ; Grecian, 114- 
129 ; t\-pes of, in Roman Empire, 155. 

Cleopatra, 170, 176, 177. 178. 

Coliseum, 185. 

Colonies, Phoenician, 44, 45 ; Greek, in 
Asia Minor. 82. 

Commerce, Babylonian, 64; Phoenician, 
66; Carthaginian, 68. 

Constantine, 19S, 199. 

Constantinople, 193. 

Coriolanus, 138. 

Crassus, 163, 165, 168. 

Croesus, overthrow of, 57. 

Cuneiform, nature of characters, 30, 31, 
45- 

Cyaxares, 56. 

Cyprian, zcxx 

Cyrus, legends of, 56, 57 ; his conquests, 
57, 58. 

Darius I., 59, 91-93, Darius Codoman- 

nus, 105, 106. 
Decemvirs, the Roman, 141. 
Democracy, contribution of Greeks to, 

114. 
Demosthenes, 103, 123. 
Dictator, origin of Roman, 139. 
Diocletian, 197. 
Dorians, character o£^ 84- 
Draco, laws of, 89. 
Drama, Grecian, 121, 122. 
Dress, Grecian, 128 ; Roman, 201, 202; 

Education among Greeks, 12S. 

Egvi5t, 12-26 ; antiquity of, 12 ; its geog- 
raphy, 13 ; populousness of. 14 : hie- 
roglyphics, 14-16 ; chronology, 1 7 ; 
castes, 20, 21 ; architecture. 22 ; sculp- 
ture, 23 ; religion. 24 ; manutectures, 

25- 

Elegy, rise of, among the Greeks. 120. 

Embalming, practice of, among Egyp- 
tians, 25. 

Emperors, the Roman, 1S9, 190. 

Epaminondas, 102. 

Era, the Christian, true beginning of, 189 
note. 

Ethnology, defiaition of, i. 

Etruscans, the, 131. 

Euripides, 121. 



Exodus, the, 19 nvte. 

Fathers, the Christian, 200. 
Federations, Greek, no. 
Food, Roman, 202. 
Franchise, the Latin, 147. 

Gades, 44. 

Gallia Cisalpina, 131. 

Games, the four Grecian, 117, 118. 

Gauls, seat of, in Italy, 131 ; burning of 
Rome by, 133 ; capture of Rome by, 
142. 

Genseric, 210. 

Gracchus, Tiberius. 159, 160; Caius, i6a 

Granicus. battle of, 105. 

Greece, history of, 73-129 ; race, 74 ; 
geography of, 75 ; states of, 76 : le- 
gends of. 78. 79 ; movements of races, 
81, 82 ; colonies, S2 ; earliest history, 
84 ; growth of Sparta and Athens, 
85-09 ; Persian invasions of, 91-9S ; 
age of Pericles, 9S, 09 ; Peloponne- 
sian war. 100. loi : Spartan and The- 
ban supremacy. loi. 102: supremacy 
of Macedonia, 103. 104 ; later history, 
109-111 ; civilization of, 114-129. 

Greek society-. 129. 

Gregory Nazianzen, 200. 

HAXflLCAK, 150. 

Hamites, their representative, 3. 
Hannibal. 151-153. 
Hanno, 68 >wte. 
Hebrew^s. the. 38-42. 
HeUas, 75, 

Herodotus, 14 note, 122. 
Hesiod. 120. 

Hieroglyphics, Egyptian, 14-16. 
Hindoos, the, 50-54. 

History, definition of, i ; a unit, 6 ; ear- 
liest theater of. 11. 
Homer, 78, 79, 90, 119, 120. 
Horace, 1S8. 
Horatius Cocles. 138. 
Houses, description of Roman, 206. 
Hyksos, iS, 19. 

Imperator, meaning of, 171. 
India, Alexander's expedition to. 106. 
Ionia, revolt of cities of, 91. 
lonians, character of, 83, 84. 



2II< 



INDEX. 



Ipsus, battle of, io8. 
Israel, kingdom of, 40. 
Issus, battle of, 105. 

Janl-s, temple of, 186. 

Jerome, 201. 

Jerusalem, destruction of. by Titus, 41 ; 

capture of. by Crusaders, 260. 
Jews, their place in history, 42. 
Judah, kingdom of, 40. 
Jugerum. 143 ticie. 
Julian the Apostate, 200. 
Juvenal, 1S9. 

L.\BARr>i, the, 199. 

Lamian war, the, 109. 

Latins, the race of the, 132. 

League, the Achaean, no. 

Leonidas, <^-., 06. 

Lepidus. 175. 

Leuctra. battle of, 102. 

Library, the Alexandrian, 108, T70. 

Licinian law. the. 143. 

Lictors. the Roman, 13S note. 

Literature, Hindoo. 52, 53 ; Persian, 62 ; 

early Roman. 157 ; Roman, 188. 
Livy, 133, 134, iSS. 
Lucretius, i33- 
Luxury, Roman, 15S. 
Lydia, 63 ruite. 

Macedonia imder Philip, 103, 104 ; sub- 
jugation of, by Rome. 154. 

Magianism, 61. 

Magna Gr3ecia,i^2 ; subdued bv Romans, 
146. 

Manetho, 14. 

Manufactures, Babylonian, 64. 

Marathon, ba^ttle of, 93. 

Mardonius. invasion of Greece by, 92. 

Marius. i6t. 162. 

Marriage, Roman, 205. 

Martial, 188. 

Mary I. (of England^ 340 : 11. (of Eng- 
land\ 362 ; Queen of Scots, 340-342 . 

Massilia, 82. 

Medes, the, 55. s^- 

Messenians, wars of Sparta with, 87. 

Miltiades, 93. 

Mithridates, 162. 

Mycale, battle of. 9S. 

Mythology. Greek. 115-117. 



X.\BOXASSAR, era of, 33. 

NabopK>lassar, 35. 

Xebuchadnezzar, 35, 36, 

Nero, 1S9. 

Xicias, Peace of, 100. 

Xineveh, description of, 34 ; its fell, 34. 

OcTA-nus, 175, 178. 
Olympiad, the first, 84. 
Oracles, 117. 
Origen, 200. 
Ostracism, 94. 
Ovid, 188. 

Parthexox, the, 127 , cot of, 73. 

Patricians, the Roman, 135 

Pelasgi, 76, 77. 

Pelopidas, 102. 

Pericles, 98, 90 ; as an orator. 123. 

Persecutions of earlv Christians, 105- 

198. 
Persia, Empire of, 55-62. 
Phamaces. 170. 171. 
Pharsalia, battle of. 170. 
Philip, King of Macedon, 103, 104. 
Phoenicians, the, 43-49. 
Phrygia, 6^ note. 
Pindar, 121. 
Pisistratus, 90, 
Plataea, battle of, 97. 
Plato, 124, 125. 
Plebeians, early oppression of Romans, 

135. 1405 143- 
Pliny. 188. 
Plutarch, 123. 
Pompeii, 188, 206. 
Pomi>ey, 163. 166, 168-170. 
Populus Romanus, meaning of term, 146. 
Pretorian Guard, the. 191. 
Priests, influence of, in Egypt, 20. 
Ptolemies, the, 108. 
Ptolemy Soter, loS. 
Punic wars, 148-154- 
Pydna, battle of, iii. 
Pythagoras, 123. 

Rack, the Italian. 132. 
I Races, the historical, compared, 4, 5 ; 
I Italian. 131. 

Regulus, 149. 
I Religion, Egyptian, 24 ; Hindoo. 52 : 
I Greek, 115. 



INDEX. 



2\\d 



Republic, duration of Roman, 136. 

Roman Empire, boundaries of, 182, 183 ; 
division of, 194 ; dow-nfall of, 211. 

Rome, history of, 130-2 n ; its geography. 
130; races, 131,132; early histor_v, 
134 ; earl5' struggles, 136-142 ; Punic 
wars, 148-154 ; civil struggle, 159-178; 
the Empire, 1S2-211 ; city of, 184, 185, 

193- 
Romulus, 133, 144. 
Rosetta stone, 15. 

Sai_\mis, battle of, 97. 

Sallust, 188. 

Sanscrit, 52. 

Sappho, 121; 

Satraps, the Persian, 59. 

Science. Eg},-ptian, 25. 

Scipio. Publius. 151. 

Sculpture, Egyptian, 23 ; Assyrian, 34 ; 

Greek, 127. 
Seleucidce, kingdom of the. 109. 
Seleucus. 109. 

Semites.their historical representatives,3. 
Sennacherib, 33. 
Sesostris. 19. 

Sicily. Roman province of, 150. 
Simonides, 120. 
Slavery. Roman, 157, 158. 
Slaves, price of Roman, 206. 
Smerdis, 58. 
Socrates, 12.^. 
Solomon, reign of, 40. 
Solon, 89. 

Sophists among the Greeks, 123, 124. 
Sophocles, 121. 
Sparta, gro^-th of, 85 ; education in, 86, 

87 ; constitution of, 87. 



Sulla, 161-163. 

TAcrrus. 189. 

Tarquinius Superbus, 135. 

TertuUian, 200. 

Teutons, the, 207, 208, 210. 

Thales, 123. 

Thapsus. battle of, 171, 

Thebes (^Greek state), supremacy of, 102. 

Themistocles, 94. 

Theodosius. 103. 

Thermopylae, battle of. 96. 

Thucydides. 122. 123. 

Tigris, the river, description of, 28. 

Tin, Phoenician trade in, 6-]. 

Tribunes, establishment of Roman, 140, 

141 ; military, 142. 
Triumvirate, the second, 176. 
Troy, siege of, 78 ; site of. 80 note. 
Twelve Tables, laws of the, 141. 
Tyre, commerce of, 48. 
Tyrtaeus, 120. 

Uk, 31. 
Utica, 171. 

Vandals, 210. 
Vedas, the, 52. 
Virgil, 188. 

War. the Jugurthine, 161. 

Wines, Roman, 204. 

Woman, position of, among the Greeks, 

129, 

Xexophon, 56, 56 note, 123. 

Xerxes, invasion of Greece by, 95, 97. 



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